could do this, however, Sir Hugh Rose ordered the heights to be stormed, under cover of two guns of the Haidarábád Contingent; and the enemy was driven successively from all the hills commanding the pass. Thus repulsed in flank and front, the rebels retreated through the jungle to the Fort of Sarái, and were pursued for a considerable distance.
The results of this success were most satisfactory. The next day the Fort of Sarái fell into Sir Hugh Rose's hands; and the day after that, the Fort of Marowra. So complete was the discomfiture of the rebels that Sir Robert Hamilton, who had accompanied the force as Agent to the Governor-General for Central India, annexed the whole district to our Indian possessions under a royal salute, the British flag being hoisted on the Fort of Sarái for the first time.
Writing to Sir Colin Campbell on March 9th, 1858, Sir Hugh Rose said: 'The great thing with these Indians is not to stay at long distances firing; but after they have been cannonaded, to close with them. They cannot stand. By forcing the Pass of Mundinpur I have taken the whole line of the enemy's defences in rear, and an extraordinary panic has seized them. I hope I am not over-sanguine, but I think that matters as far as we have gone look well. All in our rear is really police work; and all I want is a reserve to occupy the country I take, and prevent my flanks and rear being turned as I advance. A military police, organised on the Irish Constabulary system, is what is needed here, and in India generally.'
