(the late Field-Marshal Lord) Napier, who had been appointed to succeed Sir Hugh Rose on his departure to Bombay, now with the generosity which always characterised him, told Lord Canning that he would be delighted to serve as second in command; and Sir Hugh Rose was glad to have so able an officer to assist him in the operations.
Starting on June 5th, Sir Hugh reached Bahádurpur, the scene of Sindhia's defeat, on June 16th. The march was attended with considerable difficulties on account of the absence of roads, the want of maps, rivers difficult to be crossed, and heat so intense that the thermometer on one occasion stood at 130° when it broke. Sir Hugh Rose's plan of operations was to invest Gwalior as closely as its great extent would allow, and then to attack on the weakest side; the investing troops cutting off the escape of the rebels. He hoped that the defeat of the enemy, outside and inside the city, would be followed, as at Kálpi, by the easy capture of the fortress. A scientific siege of the fortress would have prolonged the operations far into the rainy season. With great trouble he had ascertained that the weakest side of Gwalior, and consequently the best suited for an attack, was the east, where the city was commanded by high hills. Here, too, Gwalior might be captured almost out of range of the guns in the fort.
Placing the Haidarábád Contingent in a position to cut off the retreat of the rebels to the South, and directing Brigadier Smith with the Rájputána Field
