occupied by the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Westphalian Landwehr under the temporary command of Captain Grollmann, fell into the hands of the French, between 08:00 and 09:00, Hourpes which is close to the Abbey, fell to the French at about the same time. There are no action reports for the capture of these two outposts, so the Westphalians may have abandoned them shortly before Reille's advanced guard occupied them. Retreat of Zieten's troops As soon as Greneral Steinmetz, the commander of the Prussian 1st Brigade, realised the French were advancing on his most advanced posts along the Sambre, he despatched Major Arnauld, an officer of his staff, to the Dutch-Belgian General van Merlen at Saint-Symphorien to inform him of what had taken place, and that his brigade was falling back into position. On his way, Major Arnauld directed Major Engelhardt, who commanded the outposts on the right, to immediately withdraw the chain of pickets, and on arriving at Binche he spread the alarm that the French had attacked, and that the left of the brigade was warmly engaged. Until arrival of Major Arnauld, the Prussian troops in this quarter were wholly ignorant of the attack as they had not heard the sound of firing. It was now necessary that the right should retire as quickly as possible. They had further to travel than the rest of the brigade, yet they were the last to retire. Zieten ascertained around 08:00 that the whole French army appeared to be in motion, and that the direction of the advance seemed to indicate that Charleroi and its vicinity was probably the main object of the attack, sent out the fresh orders to his brigades: The 1st was to retire by Courcelles to the position in rear of Gosselies The 2nd was to defend the three bridges over the Sambre, at Marchienne-au-Pont, Charleroi, and Châtelet, for a time sufficient to enable the 1st Brigade (Steinmetz's) to effect its retreat towards Gosselies, and thus to prevent its being cut off by the French, after which it was to retire behind Gilly The 3rd and 4th brigades, as also the reserve cavalry and artillery, were to concentrate as rapidly as possible, and to take up a position in rear of Fleurus. The three points by which the 1st Brigade was to fall back, were Mont-Sainte-Aldegonde, for the troops on the right, Anderlues for those in the