 Schmitt arrived at dusk , and the action continued well after dark ; in mid @-@ November night falls at close to 17 : 00 in the upper Danube climes . Despite the darkness , Schmitt descended out of the defiles and deployed his troops to assail Dupont 's flank . As his Russians entered the fray , they came between a battalion of French and another of Russians . With the additional force , the French were overwhelmed , but most of the shooting subsided when the combatants could not tell apart friend from foe in the dark . Under the cover of darkness , Mortier used the French flotilla to evacuate his exhausted troops to the south bank . The French and Russians continued to skirmish fitfully into the night as sentries encountered one another in the dark . Portions of Gazan 's force provided any necessary rear guard action , and the following morning the remaining men were evacuated from the north shore of the Danube , while they maintained possession of only Spitz and <unk> on the north bank . 
