In his letter to his brother, Brock, who was in Abercromby's column, describes the battle known as Egmont op Zee. He says:--"No commanding officer could have been more handsomely supported than I was on that day, ever glorious to the 49th. Poor Archer brought his company to the attack in a most soldier-like manner; and even after he had received his mortal wound he animated his men, calling on them to go on to victory, to glory, and no order could have been more effectually obeyed. I got knocked down soon after the enemy began to retreat, but never quitted the field, and returned to my duty in less than half an hour." On this occasion Brock's life was saved, it is said, by his wearing, as the weather was cold, a stout cotton handkerchief over a thick, black silk cravat, both of which were perforated by the bullet. The violence of the blow was so great that it stunned and dismounted him. Another fellow-officer wounded at the same time was Lord Aylmer, afterwards governor-general of Canada. The letter continues: "Savery acted during the whole of this day as aide-de-camp either to Sir Ralph or to General Moore, and nothing could surpass his activity and gallantry. He had a horse shot under him, and had all this been in his line he {18} must have been particularly noticed as he has become the astonishment of all who saw him. We remained that night and the following on the sand hills; you cannot conceive our wretched state as it blew and rained nearly the whole time. Our men bore all this without grumbling, although they had nothing to eat but the biscuits they carried with them which were completely wet. We at length got into Egmont, and the following day, the 5th, into Alkmaar, where we enjoyed ourselves amazingly." [Sidenote: Savery Brock] It is always with pride and affection that Isaac Brock speaks of his brother Savery, who resembled him much both in appearance and character. The offence for which this young midshipman had been dismissed from the navy was one occasioned by the goodness of his heart, for, indignant at the cruel punishment of mast-heading then prevalent, he had dared to sign a round robin asking for its discontinuance. Savery remained in his brother's regiment as paymaster for about six years and then volunteered for Sir John Moore's expedition to Spain, where he acted as aide-de-camp to that general until his fall at Corunna. In the Peninsular epoch, to have been one of Sir John Moore's men carried with it a prestige quite _sui generis_.