On March 29th, 1859, Sir Hugh Rose was appointed to the Command-in-Chief of the Bombay Army. At the end of a few months he was transferred (June 4th, 1860), on the departure of Lord Clyde for England, to the Commander-in-Chiefship of India. This appointment greatly pleased him, and he wrote (Sept. 19th, 1860): 'As a proof of confidence and approval, my being made Commander-in-Chief is more gratifying than a peerage, especially when the Indian Army has to be reorganised. I will endeavour to bear with humility my elevation, which I am convinced I owe more to the signal mercy of God than to my own merits. I feel that with His blessing I can do an immense amount of good; but I shall fail in doing what I ought to do, if I give way to anything like feelings of pride.'
After holding this command for five years Sir Hugh Rose returned to England, was raised to the peerage with the title of Baron Strathnairn of Strathnairn and Jhánsí, and was subsequently promoted to the rank of Field-Marshal. He died suddenly at Paris on the 16th of October, 1885, at the age of eighty-four, and now lies in the family graveyard of the Priory Church of Christchurch, Hants.
