five o'clock
So stoutly was the post held that the Vendean general saw that the bridge could not be taken , without terrible loss . He therefore contented himself with keeping up a heavy fire all day , while preparing an attack from other quarters . The first step was to destroy the bridge behind the castle , and to make a breach in the wall near the Paris gate , thereby cutting off the garrison 's means of retreat . At five o'clock a large body of peasantry was massed for an attack on the bridge at Viennes ; and its defenders , seeing the storm that was preparing , retired into the town . The Vendeans crossed the bridge but , as they approached the walls , they were attacked by a battalion of the National Guard of Deux Sevres and a body of gendarmes and , taken by surprise , were driven back some distance . Their leaders , however , speedily rallied them ; and in the meantime other bodies forced their way into the town , at several points . To avoid a massacre of his troops , Quetineau hoisted the white flag .