The violence of the assault convinced Saint-Priest that he was facing Napoleon himself. He hastily ordered his second line to retreat through Reims in the direction of Laon. The Russian commander directed his wagon train to go south to Châlons and asked Bistrom to cover the withdrawal. The retrograde movement of the Prussians through the Reims suburb became confused and Jagow was unable to unsnarl it. When Saint-Priest and his staff rode to a place between the Soissons road and Tinqueux village, they drew fire from the French artillery on the Croix-Saint-Pierre heights. Saint-Priest was hit in the shoulder by a howitzer shell and thrown senseless from his horse. A second source stated that the projectile was a solid shot. The next ranking officer, Pandschulishev was injured earlier in the day. Unable to mount a horse, he stayed behind in Reims. After witnessing Saint-Priest being struck down, Emmanuel should have assumed command of the troops. Instead, he "lost his head" and rode back into Reims to ask Pandschulishev what he ought to do. The Allied command structure went to pieces.