critical moment; he immediately drove back the garrison and reassured O’Donnel. Soult now fully expected to relieve Pampeluna in a few hours and appearances were much in favour of his doing so; in fact it was all but accomplished. [Sidenote: ADVANCE OF SOULT.] Picton, now perhaps reflecting that his retreat in the morning, together with that of Cole whom he commanded, was more precipitate than need called for, and perceiving the crisis at hand and all that depended on the affair, suddenly halted and placed his division across the outlets from the valleys of Zubiri and Lanz, thus screening Pampeluna. At the same time he ordered General Cole to occupy the heights between Oricain and Arletta; but that general, observing a hill which stood forward about a mile in advance and commanded the road to Huarte, moved forward to possess it, with the concurrence of Picton who now saw its importance. Soult, who was close at hand, also saw the importance of possessing this hill, which as the armies were then situated was the key of Pampeluna. He immediately pushed forward a strong detachment with accelerated pace to gain the hill; and so exactly simultaneous was the rush of the contending parties that while the enemy were ascending one side Cole’s advanced guard were mounting the other. Two Spanish regiments, part of O’Donnel’s blockading troops, already posted on the hill and seeing the hostile troops approaching the summit, made a furious charge on the enemy’s ascending strong body and gallantly bore them down the hill. Soult lost the key. His heavy columns soon came up, flushed with what they considered a victory, as they had driven before them two British divisions; but their career was suddenly checked on seeing the mountains in their way crowned by ten thousand troops of Cole’s division; and not two miles further back stood Picton with a still stronger force, the 3rd Division, resting on Huarte.