do, without let or hindrance, whatsoever was right in their own eyes. After the second relief of Lucknow, in November, 1857, they were encouraged to still greater boldness by the lull in the movements of the Northern army, and by the knowledge that while military operations in that direction had been conducted in an open country, those undertaken in Central India, on the contrary, would have to be carried on in the jungles, ravines, and broken ground of the Vindhya range and Bundelkhand, where the people, secure in their mountain fastnesses and strong forts, had defied the efforts of Muhammadan Emperors to subdue them, and had not yet settled down under British rule.
Sir Hugh Rose's force was composed of two brigades; the first under Brigadier Stuart, of the Bombay army; the second under Brigadier Steuart, of the 14th Light Dragoons, the whole amounting to about 4500 men, of whom four regiments were native. He had many difficulties to contend with on assuming command. Supplies were, and would be, scarce; and there was very little carriage. None of the batteries of artillery were complete, either in men or horses; while the siege artillery was altogether inadequate for the work before it. In fact, there was much to be done to fit the force for the field; but the General was not a man to brook delay. Everything was ready in an incredibly short space; and those who had called him a griff soon had to confess that 'griffs' were sometimes the very best leaders.
Having taken severe measures, with the approval
