# The Indian Mutiny of 1857/Chapter 26

CHAPTER XXVI.
WESTERN AND CENTRAL INDIA.
Amongst the few matters on which the British had reason to congratulate themselves when the Mutiny broke out there stood out prominently the fact that the administration of the Western Presidency was in the hands of a man so capable, so brave, so resolute, and so unselfish as was Lord Elphinstone. From the very hour the news of the rising of the 10th of May, at Mírath, reached him he displayed a power equal to every emergency. He arranged to despatch to Calcutta the 64th and 78th regiments, then on their way from Persia; he telegraphed to Mr Frere, Commissioner of Sind, to send the 1st Bombay Fusiliers from Karáchí to the Panjáb; he urged General Ashburnham to proceed to Calcutta to place at the disposal of Lord Canning the troops proceeding to China; he chartered steamers, he wrote for troops to Mauritius and to the Cape, he entrusted the care of Bombay to the wise supervision of Mr Forjett, and he formed a moveable column with the object of saving the line of the Narbadá and of relieving Central India.
In his own Presidency Lord Elphinstone had need for the exercise of the greatest prudence combined with the greatest decision. The nobles and landowners of the districts known as the Southern Maráthá country, comprising the territories of Belgáon, Jamkhandí, Kolápur, Míráj, Múdhal, Dhárwár, Sanglí, and Satárah had been alienated by the ​action of the Inám Commission — a commission instituted to search out titles to property obtained during the decadence of the Mughal Empire. In these districts Lord Elphinstone was represented by a very able member of the Civil Service, Mr George Berkeley Seton-Karr, a gentleman whose sympathies were greatly with the class who had suffered from the Imperial legislation, and whose influence over them enabled him to repress for a time their excited feelings. His task was a difficult one for treason was stalking abroad, and the sipáhís of the regiments in the Maráthá country, mostly Oudh men, were displaying symptoms akin to those which had been so largely manifested in the Bengal Presidency. But, considering the means at his disposal, he did wonders. In June he arrested an emissary from the rebels in the North-western Provinces. Having, in July, obtained from the Governor enlarged powers, he prevented an outbreak in Belgáon, and despatched from that station the two companies of the 29th N. I., whose presence there might have been fatal. Finding, then, that the conspiracy had its ramifications all over the province, he gradually disarmed the districts under his charge, and succeeded, amid a thousand difficulties, in maintaining law and order. But, even so late as April 1858, he recognised that the fire was still smouldering, and was forced to apply for increased powers. Instead of granting to the official who had conducted the affairs of a difficult province with marked success the powers he asked for, the Bombay Government, whilst maintaining him in his civil duties as administrator, relieved him of his political functions, and bestowed these upon a gentleman who had been a member of the detested Inám Commission, Mr Charles Manson. Almost immediately followed the rebellion of the Chief of Nargúnd, the murder of Manson, the despatch to the districts of troops ​under Colonel George Malcolm and Brigadier Le-Grand Jacob, and finally the suppression of the rebellion in the August following.
In Bombay itself the danger had been no slight one. Fortunately the arrangements for the maintenance of internal order had been entrusted to the competent hands of Mr Charles Forjett, Superintendent of Police. That most able and energetic officer detected the conspiring of the sipáhís stationed there; brought it home to some of the sipáhí officers, theretofore incredulous, that his suspicions had been well founded; prevented by his daring courage, an outbreak when it was on the point of explosion, and literally saved the island. That this is no exaggerated statement is proved by the terms of address made to Mr Forjett by the native mercantile community of Bombay when, on his retirement, they presented him with a testimonial. 'They presented it,' they wrote, 'in token of strong gratitude for one whose almost despotic powers and zealous energy had so quelled the explosive forces of native society that they seemed to have become permanently subdued.' Lord Elphinstone likewise recorded a minute expressive of his deep sense of the services rendered by this able, energetic, and honest servant of the Government.
I have stated that among the earlier acts of Lord Elphinstone was the despatch in the direction of Central India, of a column composed of the troops then available. This column marched from Puná on the 8th of June, under the command of Major-General Woodburn, whose orders were to proceed to Máu. Woodburn reached Aurangábád the 23d of June, disarmed there a cavalry regiment of the Haidarábád contingent which had mutinied, but lost much precious time by halting to try the prisoners he had taken. Fortunately sickness com​pelled him to resign his command. His successor, Colonel C. S. Stuart of the Bombay army, a very capable officer, quitted Aurangábád the 12th of July, and reached Asírgarh the 22d. There Stuart was met by Colonel Durand, who had hurried westward to meet his column. From Asírgarh Stuart marched to Máu,and then proceeded to recover Gújrí, to protect Mandlésar, to bombard and capture the fort of Dhár, to disperse the rebels who had advanced from Nímach, to crush rebellion in Málwá, and to re-enter Indur in triumph (14th December). On the 17th Sir Hugh Rose arrived to take the command of the force which was to reconquer Central India.
Sir Hugh Rose was eminently qualified for the task committed to him. He was a diplomat as well as a soldier; and in Syria, at Constantinople, and in the Crimea he had displayed a firmness, an energy, a resolution which marked him as a man who required only the opportunity to distinguish himself. He found himself now in command of two brigades. The first, composed of a squadron of the 14th Light Dragoons, a troop of the 3d Bombay Cavalry (native), two cavalry regiments of the Haidarábád contingent, two companies of the 86th Foot — joined a little later by the remaining companies, — the 25th Bombay N. I., an infantry regiment of the Haidarábád contingent, three light field-batteries, and some sappers, was commanded by Brigadier Stuart. The second, consisting of the headquarters of the 14th Light Dragoons, the headquarters of the 3d Bombay Cavalry, a regiment of cavalry of the Haidarábád contingent, the 3d Bombay Europeans, the 24th Bombay N. I., an infantry regiment of the Haidarábád contingent, a proportion of field-artillery, and a siege-train, was commanded by Brigadier Steuart of the 14th Light Dragoons. Troops from Bhopál, to the number of 800, formed also part of the force.
​Sir Hugh marched with the second brigade from Sihor, on the 16th of January, for Ráhatgarh; the first, which set out from Máu on the 10th, marching in a parallel line to it in the direction of Gunah. Sir Hugh invested Ráhatgarh on the 24th, took possession of the town on the 26th, defeated the rebel Rájá of Bánpur, who had advanced to relieve the fortress on the 27th, and found the place evacuated on the morning of the 28th. Having discovered, two days later, that the same rebel Rájá was posted, with his forces, near the village of Barodíá, fifteen miles distant, he marched against and completely defeated him. He then pushed on Ságar, which had been held, isolated in the heart of a rebel country, mainly through the loyalty of the 31st Regiment N. I., faithful amid the faithless, for more than six months; reached it on the 3d of February; marched on the 9th, after pacifying the surrounding country, against the strong fortress of Garhákotá, twenty-five miles distant, compelled the rebels to evacuate it, pursued, and cut them up. Waiting there until he should hear that a column which, under the orders of Brigadier Whitlock, should have quitted Jabalpur, and gathering in meanwhile supplies for his campaign, he marched, on the 26th of February, for Jhánsí. On his way he inflicted a very severe defeat on the rebels at Madanpur, despite a most determined resistance. This defeat so daunted them that they evacuated, without resistance, the formidable pass of Malthón, the forts of Narhat, Suráhí, Maráurá, Bánpur, and Tal-Bahat, and abandoned the line of the Bíná and the Betwá, retaining only, on the left bank of the latter, the fortress of Chandérí.
Meanwhile, Brigadier Stuart, with the first brigade, had, as we have seen, quitted Máu on the 10th of January, and marched upon Gunah, the road to which had been cleared in a most gallant and effective manner by a de​tachment of the Haidarábád contingent, directed by Captains Orr and Keatinge. The fort of Chandérí, mentioned in the preceding paragraph, lies about seventy miles to the east of Gunah. The town and the fort have alike been famous since the time of Akbar. Against it Stuart marched from Gunah, and, on the 5th of March, reached Khukwásá, six miles from it, that distance being represented by a dense jungle. This jungle Stuart forced not without resistance — though a resistance neither so fierce nor so effective as the nature of the ground made possible — and encamped to the west of the fort. The next few days he spent in clearing the surrounding country and in placing his guns in position. On the 13th his batteries opened fire, and on the 16th effected a breach in the defences. On that date the bulk of the 86th was still twenty-eight miles from him. Stuart sent to the commanding officer an express informing him of the situation. The express reached the 86th just as they had completed a march of thirteen miles. Nevertheless they at once set out again, and, marching quickly, reached Stuart by ten o'clock on the 16th. Early the next morning Stuart stormed the fort of Chandérí, with the loss of twenty-nine men, two of whom were officers. He then pressed on to join Sir Hugh Rose before Jhánsí.
Sir Hugh had reached Chanchanpur, fourteen miles from Jhánsí, when he received a despatch from the Commander-in-Chief directing him to march against the fort of Charkhárí, some eighty miles from the spot where he stood. The Agent to the Governor-General, Sir Robert Hamilton, who accompanied Sir Hugh, received from Lord Canning a despatch couched in similar terms. To obey would be to commit an act of folly scarcely conceivable, for Jhánsí was the objective point of the campaign — the seat of the rebellion — the stronghold of one of ​the authors of the Mutiny — and Jhánsí was within fourteen miles. To leave the objective point, when so close to it, in order to attack a distant fortress against which it was probable Whitlock was then marching, would be an act so devoid of common sense that Sir Robert Hamilton courageously resolved to give Sir Hugh the means by which he could evade obedience to the order, positive though it was. He wrote, accordingly, to Lord Canning, stating that he had taken upon himself the entire responsibility of directing, as Governor-General's Agent, Sir Hugh Rose to proceed with his operations against Jhánsí.
Fortified by this order, Sir Hugh set out for and reached Jhánsí on the 21st. The strength of the fortress struck him as remarkable. Standing on an elevated rock, built of massive masonry, with guns peeping from every elevation, it commanded the country far and near. The city, from the centre of three sides of which the rock rises, the rock forming the fourth side, sheer and unassailable, was four and a half miles in circumference. It was surrounded by a massive wall, from six to eight feet thick, varying in height from eighteen to thirty feet, having numerous flanking bastions armed as batteries, and was garrisoned by 11,000 men, commanded by a woman who possessed all the instincts, all the courage, all the resolution of a warrior of the type so well known in consular Rome.
Satisfied by a reconnaissance that it would be necessary to take the city before thinking of the fortress. Sir Hugh, joined the same night and on the 24th by his first brigade, invested it on the night of the 22d. For the seventeen days which followed the defensive works rained without intermission shot and shell on the besieging force. It was evident that the Rání had infused some of her lofty spirit into her compatriots. Women and children were seen assisting in the repair of the havoc made in the defences ​by the fire of the besiegers, and in carrying food and water to the soldiers on duty. It seemed a contest between the two races, under conditions unusually favourable to the besieged.
By the 29th a breach in the outer wall had been effected, though it was barely practicable. On the evening of the 31st information reached Sir Hugh that an army was advancing from the north, led by Tántiá Topí, to the relief of the fortress.
Since his defeat by Sir Colin Campbell at Kánhpur, in the preceding December, Tántiá Topí had fallen back on Kalpí, had issued thence some time in February, with 900 followers, to besiege Charkhárí, had captured it, and, his force increased by the junction of five or six regiments of the Gwáliár contingent and some local levies to 22,000 men and twenty-eight guns, was now responding to a request sent him by the Rání of Jhánsí to march to her relief.
The situation in which the advance of Tántiá placed Sir Hugh Rose, critical as it was, was a situation with which that bold and resolute leader was peculiarly qualified to grapple. He met it with the hand of a master. Recognising that to interrupt the siege operations would give the rebels a confidence sufficient to impel them to resolutions more perilous to himself than any which boldness would be likely to cause, he resolved still to press the siege, whilst, with the troops not on actual duty, amounting to 1500 men, of whom only one-third were Europeans, he would march to intercept Tántiá Topí. This plan he carried out. At four o'clock the following morning (April 1) Tántiá advanced towards the point where the 1500 men of Sir Hugh's force lay ready for action. When the rebels came within striking distance Sir Hugh opened fire, then simultaneously attacking their right and left, doubled both ​up on the centre, and then sent his infantry to charge it. These three blows, delivered with the most perfect precision, so surprised the rebels that their first line broke and fled. There still remained the second line, covered by a belt of jungle, and led by Tántiá in person. Recognising his danger, and anxious to save his second line and guns, Tántiá fired the jungle and retreated. The men with him were the men of the Gwáliár contingent, and these, drilled in olden days by British officers, were true to the teaching they had received. So orderly and well-conducted was their retreat that they succeeded in carrying their guns and some of the fugitives of the first line across the Betwá. But the British cavalry and horse-artillery, splendidly led, were not to be baffled. Dashing at a gallop through the burning jungle, they followed Tántiá for several miles, nor did they cease until they had captured every one of his twenty-eight guns.
The garrison at Jhánsí was proportionately depressed by the failure of Tántiá Topí to relieve them, and Sir Hugh resolved to take advantage of their depression to storm at the earliest possible date. This was the second day after his victory over Tántiá. At three o'clock in the morning of the 3d of April the stormers marched on the positions assigned to them. The left attack, divided into two columns, the left led by Colonel Lowth, the right by Major Stuart, both of the 86th, and having in its ranks Brockman, Darby, and Jerome of the same regiment, succeeded, after a desperate fight, in storming the wall and seizing the positions assigned to them. The right attack, the right column of which was led by Colonel Liddell, the left by Captain Robinson, both of the 2d Europeans, had tremendous difficulties to overcome. The rampart they had to escalade was very high, and their scaling ladders were too short. Thanks, however, to the splendid gallantry ​of three, officers of the engineers, Dick, Meiklejohn, and Bonus, and of Fox of the Madras Sappers, they succeeded in gaining a footing there. Just then Brockman, from the left attack, made a timely charge on the flank and rear of the defenders. Their persistence immediately diminished, and the right attack made good its hold. The stormers now marched on the palace, gained it after a stubborn resistance, and drove the rebels helter-skelter from the town. There they were set upon by the 24th Bombay N. I. and dispersed. But desultory fighting continued all night The Rání took advantage of the darkness and disorder to ride with a small following for Kalpí, where she arrived safely. Early the next morning Sir Hugh occupied Jhánsí. Its capture had cost him 343 killed and wounded, of whom thirty-six were officers. The rebels' loss he put down roughly at 5000.
Leaving a small but sufficient garrison in Jhánsí, Sir Hugh marched on the 25th of April for Kalpí, a place whence throughout the Mutiny the rebels had sallied to harass and destroy. On the 5th of May he stormed Kunch, defeating the rebels in its vicinity, but, owing to the heat of the day, he could not prevent their seizing the Kalpí road and marching along it. He sent, however, his cavalry in pursuit, and these, gallantly led by Prettijohn of the 14th Light Dragoons, pursued the enemy for miles. Pushing on, he established himself at Guláulí, near Kalpí, on the 15th.
Sir Hugh had been strengthened, on the 5th, by the addition of the 71st Highlanders, and at Guláulí he came in touch with Colonel G. V. Maxwell, commanding a column composed of the 88th, the Camel Corps, and some Sikhs, on the left bank of the Jamnah. The rebels, too, had been considerably strengthened, and their position at Kalpí being very formidable, intersected by labyrinths of ​ravines, impossible for artillery and cavalry, their confidence had returned. The natural advantages of their position they had improved by throwing up intrenchments at all the salient points.
Sir Hugh spent the five days following his arrival at Guláulí in establishing his batteries, in effecting a junction with Maxwell, and in constant skirmishes with the rebels. On the 21st his batteries opened fire, and on the 22d he delivered his attack. The battle that ensued was one of the fiercest and most hotly contested of that terrible war. At one phase of it the rebels, strongest on the decisive point, gained an actual advantage. The thin red line began to waver. The rebels, animated by a confidence they had never felt before, pressed on with loud yells, the British falling back towards the field-guns and the mortar battery. Then Brigadier C. S. Stuart, dismounting, placed himself by the guns, and bade the gunners defend them with their lives. Just at the moment, when the British were well-nigh exhausted, 150 men of the Camel Corps came up and turned the tide. At the moment the rebels had advanced within twenty yards of the battery and of the outpost tents, the latter full of men struck down by the sun. Another quarter of an hour and there would have been a massacre. But the timely arrival of the Camel Corps saved the day, converted defeat into victory, and enabled Sir Hugh Rose to close with glory the first part of his dashing Central Indian campaign.
For the defeat he inflicted on the rebels was decisive. They dispersed in all directions, broken and dispirited. In five months Sir Hugh had, under many difficulties traversed Central India, crossed deep rivers, stormed strong fortresses, defeated the rebels in the field, and re-established British authority in an important region of India. It was impossible to have done this better ​than Sir Hugh Rose did it. As a campaign his was faultless.
Meanwhile, the column under Whitlock had moved, on the 17th of February, from Jabalpur towards Bundelkhand. The movements of this officer were as slow as those of Sir Hugh had been rapid. On the 19th of April, however, he appeared before Bandah, and defeated the troops which the Nuwáb of that place had collected. From Bandah he intended to march to Kalpí, every step in the road having been cleared for him by Sir Hugh. But on his way thither he received instructions to turn from his course and march against Kírwí, the Ráo of which, an irresponsible minor, a ward of the British, was charged with having rebelled. The little Ráo, who had no idea of rebellion, displayed his confidence in his overlord by riding out to Whitlock's camp to welcome him. Whitlock then occupied Kírwí without the semblance of opposition, and declared all the enormous treasures it contained to be spoils of the victors. In this contention he was supported by the Government of India, and the spoil was subsequently divided. But to the ordinary reader the decision will always remain a puzzle.
Sir Hugh Rose, after his five months' campaign, had the right to hope that he might be allowed some rest, and he had applied for leave on medical certificate, accompanying his application with the formal resignation of his command. But, on the 1st of June, there occurred, close to Gwáliár, an event which upset all his calculations. The news of it reached him on the 4th. It was to the effect that Tántiá Topi and the Rání of Jhánsí, re-collecting their scattered followers, had marched on Morár; that Sindhiá, marching to meet him at the head of 6000 infantry, 1500 cavalry, and his own bodyguard, 600 strong, had had the mortification to be deserted by his ​troops, and had fled, without drawing rein, to Agra. Sir Hugh had previously despatched a party, under Colonel Robertson, on the track of the rebels he had defeated at Kalpí. On the 1st that officer had notified to him that Tántiá and his followers had taken the road to Gwáliár. Sir Hugh had at once sent forward the remainder of Brigadier Stuart's brigade. On the 5th he started himself, with a small force, to overtake Stuart.
Sir Hugh overtook Stuart at Indúrkí on the 12th, and, pushing on, reached Bahádurpur, five miles to the east of Morár, on the 16th. There he was joined by General Robert Napier and by a portion of the Haidarábád contingent. The following morning he attacked and completely defeated the rebels posted at Morár. General Smith's brigade of the Rájpútáná field force, which had been ordered to proceed to Gwáliár, attacked them the following morning on the hilly ground between Kotah-kí-sarai and Gwáliár, and after a severe contest forced them to retreat. In this action the famous Rání of Jhánsí was killed, fighting boldly to the last. The rebels, however, though beaten, were still numerous, and the position taken up by Smith for the night left him exposed to the attack of their united force. Sir Hugh then resolved to finish with them. Accordingly, leaving Napier, with one column, at Morár, Sir Hugh, on the 18th, opened communications with Smith, and cutting off the rebels from Gwáliár, sent, on the 19th, Stuart to attack their left, whilst Raines should amuse them on the right. The action which followed was completely successful. In it ​Brockman of the 86th again greatly distinguished himself. One consequence of it was the capture of the city of Gwáliár the same evening. The fort still defied the victors; but by an extraordinary act of daring on the part of two British officers, Rose and Waller, with a small following, this apparently impregnable place fell into their hands in the grey dawn of the 20th.
When, on the 19th, Sir Hugh had recognised that his attack on the rebels was succeeding, he had sent a despatch to Napier to pursue and follow them up as far and as closely as was possible. Napier set out at nine o'clock on the morning of the 20th, and the following morning came up with the enemy, about 12,000 strong, posted at the village of Jaurá-Alípur. He at once attacked and defeated them, taking from them twenty-five guns and all their ammunition, tents, carts, and baggage. This victory was, for the time, their death-blow. Apparently it finished the campaign.
His work accomplished by the restoration ol Sindhiá, Sir Hugh Rose resigned his command, and proceeded, covered with laurels, to Bombay, to assume there the office of Commander-in-Chief of that Presidency. He was replaced in command of the Central India force by Robert Napier. This officer was soon to find that the security which had seemingly followed the victory of Jaurá-Alípur was but temporary.
Tántiá Topí, escaping from that field, had fled in a north-westerly direction. Finding, however, that his escape would be difficult, he had turned and made for Jaipur. There were ranged round the area in which he would be likely to move Napier's force at, and in the vicinity of, Gwaliar itself, a smaller force at Jhánsí, another at Síprí, a fourth at Gunah, a fifth at Nasirábád, and a sixth at Bhartpur, There were other forces round the outer ring ​of this girdle. It seemed, therefore, that the chances of escape for Tántiá were small indeed.
Yet so extraordinary was the vitality of this remarkable man that for more than nine months he kept all the troops I have mentioned, and many others, in a state of perpetual movement against him. On the 28th of June 1858 he and his small following were baffled by Brigadier Roberts in his attempt to gain Jaipur. Two days later Holmes foiled him in an attempted raid on Tonk; on the 7th of August Roberts caught and defeated him near Sanganír. This action was a type of all the actions fought by Tántiá. It was his wont to occupy a strong position covered by skirmishers. These skirmishers held the position long enough to ensure the retreat of the main body. On this occasion Tántiá escaped; fought Roberts again, on the 14th, on the Banás, and again escaped. As he fled towards the Chambal the pursuit was taken up by Parkes, who, however, was misled by false information. Tántiá then moved on Jhalrá-Patan, of which he took possession. Levying there a heavy contribution, he made as though he would march on Indur, but finding two British columns at Nalkérah, he moved on Rájgarh. Thence, on the approach of Michel, who had succeeded Roberts, he fled into the jungles, was followed, caught, and defeated by Michel, again fled, and for a moment disappeared from view. Napier, meanwhile, had had troubles of his own to contend with. Mán Singh, Rájá of Narwar, had rebelled against Sindhiá, and Napier had despatched Smith to coerce him. Smith not being strong enough, Napier had followed, had compelled the evacuation of Narwar, and had despatched Robertson in pursuit of the rebels. Robertson had caught and defeated a division of them, commanded by Ajít Singh, on the Parbatí river (September 4), and had then returned to ​Gunah. Some of the fugitives succeeded in joining Tántiá.
That chief, after a rest of eight days at Sironj, to which place he had made his way through the jungles, had marched against Iságarh, taken thence the supplies he wanted, and had attempted the strong place of Chandérí. The Maráthá chief who held the fortress for Sindhiá was deaf alike to his promises and his threats, so Tántiá made for Migráulí. There he was encountered by Michel, completely defeated, and lost his guns. Then he fled to join Ráo Sáhib, nephew of Náná Sáhib, at Lalitpur. The two chiefs met only to separate. Then Ráo Sáhib was caught and beaten by Michel. The two chiefs met once again and resolved to cross the Narbadá. They conducted this operation with great skill, and though Tántiá's right wing was annihilated by Michel at Kurai, he escaped across the river, and caused an alarm which spread even to Bombay. There, pursued by a column under Sutherland, he crossed and recrossed the river, and was caught and attacked at Kargun, only to escape with the loss of the guns, with which he had been mysteriously re-supplied. He then took the bold step of marching on Barodah, arrived within fifty miles of it, when finding the pursuit too hot, he turned, recrossed the Narbadá, and reached Chota Udaipur. There Parkes caught him and beat him. Tántiá then fled to the Banswárá jungles. There his position was desperate, for the cordon around him was complete. But, bold as he was able, he broke out to march on Udaipur. Finding Rocke with a force in the way, he returned to the jungles; suddenly emerging thence, he baffled Rocke, and took his way toward Mandesar. Caught at Zírápur, he fled to Baród; was pursued thither by Somerset there and beaten; then, when his fortunes were desperate, was met by the rebel chief Mán ​Singh, and another famous rebel, Prince Firúzsháh, recently completely defeated by Napier at Ranod.
Mán Singh did not stay with Tántiá, and the case of the latter, completely surrounded, again seemed hopeless. Attempting to creep out in a north-westerly direction, he was surprised by Showers at Dewásá, and again (January 21) by Holmes at Sikar. The surprise was so complete that the rebel force broke up, and Tántiá, 'tired of running away,' took refuge with Mán Singh in the Parón jungles. There an attempt was made by the British authorities to persuade Mán Singh to make his submission. Mán Singh not only submitted, but was induced by hopes of personal advantage to betray the hiding-place of his old comrade. At midnight, on the 7th of April, Tántiá was surprised there as he slept, taken into Síprí, brought to a court-martial, charged with having waged war against the British Government, condemned, and sentenced to be hanged. The sentence was carried out on the 18th of April.
Tántiá Topí was a marvellous guerilla warrior. In pursuit of him, Brigadier Parke had marched, consecutively, 240 miles in nine days; Brigadier Somerset, 230 in nine days, and, again, seventy miles in forty-eight hours; Colonel Holmes, through a sandy desert, fifty-four miles in little over twenty-four hours; Brigadier Honner, 145 miles in four days. Yet he slipped through them all — through enemies watching every issue of the jungles in which he lay concealed, only to fall at last through the treachery of a trusted friend. His capture, and the surrender of Mán Singh, finished the war in Central India. Thenceforth his name only survived.