Under Lieutenant Peter Wright of the engineers, this company, assisted by working parties from the line, erected several musket-proof stockade-redoubts on the summits of the ridges in the neighbourhood of Roncesvalles; and as the weather was extremely cold, accompanied with rain and sometimes snow, the interior was so constructed as to serve the purpose of a barrack to shelter a garrison of about 200 men. Young trees were found in great abundance on the mountain sides, which were sawn in two for the work, and “the berms were filled up with a triangle of earth,” to prevent the enemy creeping up the slopes and firing into the loop-holes. Attention was also paid to providing the troops with sufficient sustenance and the means of defence for a fortnight. Water was obtained from a cask sunk in the centre of the stockade, and an ample supply of loaded shells was procured from a foundry in the neighbourhood, to roll down the mountain should the enemy attempt to pass at its base, or to hurl into the ditch should he assail the garrison. The stockades were also provided with small ordnance when the situation required a more powerful armament.[195] ----- Footnote 195: Manuscript, Royal Engineer Establishment. The model in the Model Room at Brompton, showing the details of one of the stockades, was made under the direction of Sub-Lieutenant Calder. ----- The fifth, seventh, and eighth companies, second battalion, and detachments of the sixth and seventh companies, first battalion, were present at the siege of San Sebastian from the 11th July to the 8th September. The second company, second battalion, joined there on the 20th August from England, and was the first company in the corps that appeared in the scarlet uniform. All the men composing it had been instructed at Chatham, and were derisively styled “Pasley’s cadets.” The greatest number at the siege counted five Sub-Lieutenants—Gratton, Stratton, Turner, Wallace, and Johnson, and 305 non-commissioned officers and men. The eighth company, second battalion, with Lieutenant Turner, was posted on the Chofre hills, and the other companies on the isthmus. The men were divided into three reliefs; each relief was on duty eight hours, but when the works required to be pressed, the periods of rest were shortened to meet the emergency. The sub-lieutenants acted as assistant engineers. A large party of the corps did duty in the park, and the remainder were employed as overseers of the working parties. They also had to place the gabions, fascines, platforms, &c., open and repair the embrasures, and execute all services requiring more than ordinary skill, such as commencing the saps and leading their progress. In the early part of the siege the batteries and communications were wholly constructed by the sappers; but from the 16th July, these services, except in occasional instances of difficulty and danger, were performed by the line.