The Ranee of Jhansi and Tantia Topee had now concentrated an army of 20,000 men at Kalpi, and held an entrenched position at Kunch. Here, on the 7th of May, Rose defeated them, and his pursuit was so fierce and unresting that hardly a single fugitive escaped. Another rally was made at Kalpi, which was seized on the 23rd of May, the flying Sepoys being cut and shot down by hundreds, no quarter being given or taken. “Soldiers,” said Sir Hugh Rose, in his proclamation to the Central India Field Force, “you have marched more than a thousand miles, and taken more than a hundred guns; you have forced your way through mountain passes and intricate jungles, and over rivers; you have captured the strongest forts, and beat the enemy, no matter what the odds, wherever you met him; you have restored extensive districts to the Government, and peace and order now reign where before for twelve months were tyranny and rebellion; you have done all this, and you have never had a check.” Led by a dandy, who might almost be termed the Alcibiades of the Indian army, the Central India Field Force had carried fire and sword from the shores of Western India to the waters of the Jumna, and literally quenched the spirit of the insurrection in blood. But fresh work awaited Rose and his followers. Tantia Topee had organised a conspiracy against Scindia at Gwalior, whose contingent had, early in the Mutiny, revolted from his standard. Instead of waiting for British help, Scindia insisted on striking at the conspirators with such troops as he had still attached to his household. When he attacked the enemy at Barragaom, his followers deserted him, and he had to fly, with a small escort, to Dhólpoor, leaving the great fortress of Gwalior, with its vast stores of arms and munitions of war, to be occupied by the rebels. This gave fresh life to the Mutiny: the Nana Sahib promptly proclaimed himself Peishwa, and took the field with a new army of 18,000 men, strengthened by the superb artillery of Gwalior. But the news of this terrible misfortune did not daunt Sir Hugh Rose. He immediately resumed the command of the Central Field Force, which he had laid down, and made a dash for Gwalior. On the 16th of June he surprised the rebels at Morar, where he waited for one of his brigades, which came up on the 17th. He drove the enemy before him, like chaff before the wind, tearing them to pieces by fierce onsets of cavalry, in one of which a trooper of the 8th Hussars slew the dreaded Ranee of Jhansi, who fell fighting in male disguise. On the 18th the rebel army was in full retreat, and on the 20th Scindia took possession of his capital, the sack of which by the rebels cost him the loss of £500,000 of treasure, jewels, and other property. Nana Sahib’s broken army alone kept up a faint semblance of rebellion in Oudh towards the end of 1858.