At the Battle of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815, the only units engaged were the 8th and 11th Cuirassier Regiments. Ney, seeing his chances to win the battle slipping away, ordered Kellermann to charge with his lone available brigade at 5:00 PM. An amazed Kellermann asked Ney to repeat the order but the marshal brushed him off. It was normal for a cavalry charge to start at a walk and work up to a gallop. To prevent his troopers from flinching at the long odds against them, Kellermann ordered the heavy cavalrymen into an immediate gallop. The French scored a quick success against the 69th Foot. The commander of the 69th spotted the cuirassiers approaching and ordered the regiment into square. However, the officer in charge of the grenadier company ignored the order so that his men could fire on the cavalry. The horsemen quickly penetrated the gap and cut down many of the infantrymen before they could run away. The 8th Cuirassiers captured one of the colors belonging to the 69th. Seeing the disaster, the 33rd Foot and 73rd Foot panicked and fled to the safely of a nearby wood, while the 30th Foot formed into a square and retired in good order. The cuirassiers found themselves in possession of the hamlet of Quatre Bras but were not destined to hold it for long. Fired on by close-range artillery and musketry, the horsemen turned and raced back to the French lines. Kellermann's horse was shot down and he only escaped by grasping the bits of two of his troopers' horses.