The "Grand Army" crossed the Loire and began marching west along the north bank of the river under the command of Cathelineau. They planned to attack Nantes in conjunction with Charette and 20,000 rebels on the south bank. However, many Vendeans returned to their farms so that only 10,000 attacked the city on the north bank. The Whites fought their way into the center of the city but after Cathelineau was fatally hit, they withdrew and recrossed the Loire. The Battle of Nantes on 29 June 1793 was won by Canclaux and 12,000 troops of the "Army of the Coasts of Brest". On 28 June Royrand mounted an attack on Luçon in the south but Claude François Sandoz and his Republican garrison repulsed it despite being outnumbered 6,000 to 800. Asked to help in the defense of Nantes, Biron ordered François Joseph Westermann on a diversion into the Vendée but failed to support his subordinate. After plundering and burning Parthenay and Amailloux, Westermann's column fought its way into Châtillon-sur-Sèvre on 3 July. His force was smashed by the rebels and he lost two-thirds of his troops on 5 July in the First Battle of Châtillon.