At 8.00pm Freytag ordered a retreat to Hondschoote, sending orders for Wallmoden's command facing Bergues to join him there. Freytag led his men along the route via Rexpoede, unaware that the town had already fallen to the French, and the head of the column ran straight into the French outposts. After a confused scuffle Freytag was wounded and captured, together with the future Duke of Cambridge. The latter soon escaped, thanks to the help of his young Aide-de-Camp Scharnhorst, but Freytag remained a prisoner in French hands until Walmoden, who had suspected his commander could be in danger, arrived with his column at Rexpoede and retook the town, scattering Jourdan's three battalions and almost capturing Houchard in turn. The panic was so severe that some of the French, including Bernadotte's battalion, ran all the way back to Cassel.