So begins our foray into Bundelkhand and Central India.

At Lalitpur

While the events were taking place in Jhansi (which led to the eventual annihilation of the Europeans of the station), the Chanderi district had become more and more unsettled. Captain A.C. Gordon, Deputy Commissioner of Chanderi, had taken the place of Lieutenant Hamilton on the 7th of June only to find the Bundleas were up in arms in all directions. As the news of the outbreak at Jhansi spread, plundering commenced everywhere, and large disorderly bands of Rajputs scoured the countryside, collecting first at Chanderi, then at Talbehat and finally around Lalitpur. The Raja of Banpur, Mardan Singh, invited by Hamilton (before he left) to a sojourn in Lalitpur, first professed his loyalty to the government and expressed his disgust at the rebellious Rajputs. He took it upon himself to occupy the hill passages with strong bodies of matchlockmen while, at the same time, endeavouring to demoralise the sepoys of the 6th Regiment of the Gwalior Contingent, stationed at Lalitpur. Captain Gordon, aware of the Raja’s duplicitous nature but realising he could do nothing without reinforcements of Scindia’s commander at the next station of Isagarh, urged the Raja to prove his fidelity by retiring back to his own territory of Banpur. Captain Gordon was summarily ignored. The Raja then refused to meet with the captain, leaving Gordon no choice but to order the Raja to leave Lalitpur. The Raja condescended to go but he took up quarters at his fort at Maraura, barely four miles from the station. He quickly collected a strong force of Bundleas and some guns, thumbing his nose not just at Gordon but at the entire EICo. Meanwhile, in Lalitpur, the situation was not improving, and the Europeans were becoming decidedly nervous. They were as follows:

Captain A.C. Gordon, Deputy Commissioner,
Captain Sale commanding the 6th Regiment, Gwalior Infantry
Lieutenant Irwin, second in command, 6th Regiment
Dr. O’Brien 6th Regiment
Sergeant Major, as yet unnamed, 6th Regiment
Mr. Verrier, Customs department

Men attached to the Raja of Banpur had pushed their way into the Lalitpur bazaar, and Captain Gordon found himself ordering a retreat. His first step to ensure some peace had been to hand the entire treasury into the hands of the sepoys of the Gwalior Contingent for safekeeping and then to ask Brigadier Sage, stationed at Sagar, for assistance in the form of guns. He received the message on the 13th of June and promptly sent off two 9-pounder guns escorted by one company of the 31st BNI, one of the 42nd and seventy-five troops of the 3rd Irregulars under Major Gaussen. The detachment was destined never to reach Lalitpur.
Captain Gordon did two inexplicable things, but in the situation, he can perhaps be forgiven. Besides handing over the treasury to the Gwalior Contingent, he then thought it advisable to make over the entire district to the Raja of Banpur. His intention was to prevent plunder, and he hoped this would secure him and the remaining Europeans at Lalitpur a safe passage; they had, after all, the contingent for protection. However, once the treasury was in their hands, the contingent refused to move. They announced they were “servants of the King of Delhi” and advised their officers to be off. Seeing there was nothing for it, Gordon and the others left the station to its fate.
The party, along with the wife and children of Lieutenant Irwin, made their way on the Sagar Road, but at the end of the bazaar, they were captured by the Raja’s men, who promptly marched them off to their liege. They were met by the Raja’s agent who, armed with a piece of paper guaranteeing them protection, escorted them to the fort at Maraura and put them into confinement, all the while the Raja continued to refuse to see Captain Gordon. With Lalitpur now free of Europeans, the Raja of Banpur threw off the rest of his momentary allegiance to the government and moved into the station with a strong force and some guns. His mind was on the treasury, but he would be disappointed. The 6th Regiment paid no heed to the Raja and marched off with the treasury, prompting him to attack them. The contingent repulsed the attack and continued their march. Baffled and somewhat sore, the Raja ordered Gordon and the other fugitives to be imprisoned in his fort at Tehri and then marched off to meet the force coming from Sagar. He hoped to induce them to rebel and join him in the chase after the 6th Regiment. Major Gaussen, commanding the detachment from Sagar, had reached Malthon, some 40 miles from that place, when he heard of the mutiny at Lalitpur and of the movements of the Banpur Raja. He at once halted his force and wrote to Sage for instructions, asking for reinforcements. Sage replied by sending 400 infantry and 100 cavalry to Gaussen’s aid.