about ten
o'clock in the evening
He kept no officers but one cornet and two sergeants , and with this small force he determined , if possible , to effect that night what his army of ten thousand men had so signally failed in accomplishing . About half a mile from Amaillou there was a large château , the owner of which had emigrated ; it had been left to the care of two or three servants , who had deserted it on the approach of the republican army , and when Westerman and his small troop rode up to the front gate , they found no one either to admit them or to dispute their entrance . Here he bivouacked for an hour or two , and matured his project , which , as yet , he had communicated to no one . He had entrusted the retreat of the army to General Bourbotte , who , in spite of their quarrel at Angers , was serving with him ; and without staying even to ascertain what was the amount of loss he had sustained , or to see whether the enemy would harass the army as it retreated , he had separated from it at Amaillou , and reached the château about ten o'clock in the evening . He had with him a couple of guides , who knew the country well , and accompanied by these , he resolved to attack Clisson that night , to burn the château of M. de Lescure , and , if possible , to carry back with him to Bressuire the next morning the two Vendean chiefs , whom he knew were staying there . Westerman understood enough of the tactics of the Vendeans to know that this was practicable , and he had the quick wit and ready hand to conceive the plan , and put it in practice : he knew that the peasants would not remain in barracks , or even assembled together during the night , if they were near enough to their own homes to reach them ; he knew that they would spend the remainder of their long summer evening in drinking , dancing , and rejoicing , and that they would then sleep as though no enemy were within a hundred miles of them ; he knew that nothing could induce them to take on themselves the duties of sentinels , and that there would , in all probability , be but little to oppose him in attacking Clisson that night . Westerman first had the horses fed , and having then refreshed his men with meat , wine , and brandy , he started at two o'clock .