five o'clock
At five in the morning a mounted messenger brought a despatch from Salomon , saying that he had fought for four hours near Montreuil , against a large force of the enemy ; and that , another column of these having fallen on his rear , he found it necessary to retire , as a panic was spreading among the National Guard , and a serious disaster would have happened , had he continued his attempts to push on . In the evening Generals Coustard and Berthier , who had been sent by Biron to act under Menou 's orders , arrived in the town ; and Santerre , the brewer of Paris , who had been the leader of the mob there and was now a general , arrived next morning . Cathelineau 's army was astir early . The leaders had been gladdened by the arrival , at five o'clock , of a messenger from Pierre , saying that one of his messengers had come in from Tours , and that , up to seven o'clock in the evening , no troops had left that city . It was , therefore , certain that the garrison of Saumur could receive no assistance from that quarter . Breakfast was eaten , and the army then formed up in its divisions . Mass was celebrated , and it then set out for Saumur .