An affair ensued, in which Harispe lost half his cavalry in vainly attempting to break the Spaniards. Five times he attacked their position, and was as often repulsed; but Mina perceiving that a movement was made to cut off his retreat, withdrew in time, in good order, and keeping up a brisk fire. This continued till evening closed; night set in with fogs, and the French and Spaniards got confused and intermingled, firing upon their comrades: at length the latter retired into a difficult pass, where the enemy did not venture to follow them. Mina now determined, with the advice of Cruchaga and his other officers, to break up his force into companies, sending each to a different point; a measure which would distract the attention of the enemy, who would thus lose sight of him, withdraw perhaps part of their troops, and divide the others, and thus give him opportunity to collect his companions again, and strike a blow when it was not expected. He himself retained only twenty horsemen, with whom he meant to make a circuit to preserve order among his scattered bands, and prevent excesses of any kind. After awhile he came to a village near the French border, where some of his companions had stationed themselves, and where he hoped to give a little rest to his comrades; but an overpowering force was brought against him, and he, again dispersing his infantry, went with his little band of horsemen into France. Here he found that his name was known, and his virtues honoured by the mountaineers, while every heart cursed the tyrant who inflicted curses upon Europe, and brought disgrace as well as misery upon France, by the crimes which he compelled her to perpetrate. They offered all they had to the Spaniards, but Mina would suffer nothing to be taken without paying its fair price.
It was not long before the French discovered with astonishment, that Mina had entered France; they dispatched forces against him, which he eluded, and, wandering about the borders of Roncesvalles, Viscarret, and Olbayceta, surprised one of their parties, killing two officers and seven men. A handful of men only were engaged, ... but it was a well-timed success, and an auspicious scene, and Mina said, that the Spanish spirit of old times shone in his comrades that hour. A greater force, to which the fugitives had given the alarm, followed him during the whole night, but without success; and he continued among the mountains within the French border, waiting impatiently for better prospects. “From thence,” says he, “I stretched my eyes over this kingdom close at hand, covered with innumerable enemies, and I groaned for her miserable condition; the imprisonment of so many of its good inhabitants, the persecution and the banishment of the relations of my companions rent my soul, seeing myself without the means for redressing their wrongs.”