I went to the house where the Colonel had been taken to and remained with him. Constructed a bearer, upon which the Colonel was placed and supported upon the shoulders of our band through the pass of Vera to that town. I remained with him night and day until every dangerous symptom was subdued, and having a good constitution, he speedily recovered, and on the 7th of December we rode to headquarters at St. Jean-de-Luz. Continued here till 24th December, when we joined the Battalion at the château of Arcangues. The companies occupied farmhouses in the vicinity. The French army were now in an entrenched camp under the walls of Bayonne, a strongly fortified town upon the confluence of the rivers Nive and Adour. The high road from Paris to Madrid passes through this town, and the road to St. Jean Pied-de-Port runs from it, and takes its course between the Adour and Nive. The by-roads in every direction are exceedingly bad, and more particularly at this time, as the rain had continued to fall in quantities for some time back. The Light Division had been occupied in fortifying the church and château of Arcangues, and field-works were thrown up in many other places. On the 10th, my friends informed me that Marshal Soult advanced with a large force by the high road from Bayonne and formed up near Bassussarry, which is directly opposite the church and château of Arcangues, and made an attack upon the left of our line. Lieutenant Hopwood and Sergeant Brotherwood were killed. A ball passed through both their heads, happening to be standing a little behind one another. They were both capital soldiers and were put in the same grave. [Sidenote: 1813 Dec. 31st] Marshal Soult made a number of attacks on different parts of our line, which in no one instance succeeded, and the loss to the enemy was very great. This night the regiments of Frankfort and Nassau, with their commandant, Colonel Kruse, came over in a body. These regiments were very well-appointed and good-looking soldiers. They marched to Passages, and were shipped for their own country. Marshal Soult after this affair told his soldiers that a hundred battles still awaited them. The campaign of 1813 now terminated; it certainly had been a most brilliant one indeed. I now and then have mentioned officers of my corps that were killed and wounded, but there were also many that I have not in my hurry thought of. Letter No. XXII Saint Jean-de-Luz, France, _7th December 1813_.