196 PINDAREE WAR. 



and aid in the suppression of this insurrection. Generai 

 Keir, who had advanced from Guzerat, was induced by the 

 same infonnation to retreat. But Lord Hastings justly 

 considered that the fortune of the campaign must ultimately 

 depend upon the prompt success of the operations in Cen- 

 tral India, and conceiving Smith's force, with another under 

 Pritzler, quite sufficient at present to overcome the peishvva, 

 ordered these commanders to return without delay to the 

 scene of action. 



The Pindarees, as soon as they saw themselves com- 

 pletely enclosed by the advancing corps of the British, made 

 no attempt at resistance, and studied only how to escape. 

 One party succeeded in penetrating into the rear of our 

 army in Bundelcund, where they began to commit serious 

 ravages, and were not dispersed without some difficulty. 

 Cheetoo, with nearly 8000 men, effected a march westward 

 into the territory of Mewar, where he was assured of sup- 

 port from several quarters, and had the strong mountain-fort 

 of Kumulner as a refuge for his family. The escape of 

 the Pindaree chiefs, when so strong a force surrounded them, 

 Colonel Blacker explains by a reference to the defective 

 means of conveyance possessed by the British.; to their 

 having, in the dread of encountering a Mahratta army, en- 

 cumbered themselves with ordnance ; and above all, to the 

 agility of the native horses, which can pass over the most 

 rugged roads and uneven ground with great speed. Kur- 

 reem, with one of his associates, attempted to push his way 

 to Gwalior, where he hoped to find support from Sindia. 

 All the passes in this direction, however, were most strictly 

 guarded ; and a strong corps was appointed to watch the 

 motions of that ruler, whose secret enmity to the British 

 was so fully understood. The first that came up with this 

 body of Pindarees was General Marshall, who easily drove 

 them before him. They escaped without much loss, but 

 were obliged to change their direction and march for the 

 territory of Jyepore, where they hoped to be joined by some 

 of the disbanded troops of Ameer Khan. On their way 

 thither, they were surprised by General Donkin, who gave 

 them a complete overthrow, capturing the wife of Kurreem, 

 with all his state-elephants and kettle-drums. His army, 

 therefore, no longer attempted to preserve any appearance 

 of regularity, but broke into detachments, and sought for 



