Doveton, and made preparations for flying; but, on the 17th, Colonel Adams came suddenly upon him, with only one regiment of native cavalry and some horse artillery. An action ensued, when the Peishwa was completely routed, with the loss of several hundred men, four brass guns, three elephants, nearly two hundred camels, and a variety of valuable property. The enemy fled through the jungles, and the Peishwa himself had a narrow escape – the palanquin in which he had been borne having been taken immediately after he had left it to seek safety by flight on horseback.
Being hotly pursued by General Doveton, the Peishwa fled to Ormekaii, where, overcome by fatigue, privation, and terror, his army broke up, and the fugitive prince was abandoned by most of his sirdars. His sole object now was to get back to the north-east; but here he found his progress stopped by General Sir Thomas Hislop, who was returning from Malwa to the Deccan, after taking the fort of Talneir, which commanded a fort across the river Taptee. This was one of the places ceded to the English by Holkar; but the Killadar having refused to deliver it up, it was stormed by the English, and captured after a desperate defence. On the next morning Sir Thomas Hislop had the Killadar hanged on one of the bastions, on the twofold charge of rebellion and treachery; a proceeding for which Sir Thomas was severely and justly censured.
The race of the Peishwa was now well-nigh finished: north, south, east and west, his road was cut off, and forces were moving round him from the intermediate points of the compass. He had wandered in every direction, and in every direction had met with disappointment and defeat. "His flight," says Colonel Blacker, "seemed restricted within a magic circle, from which he appeared destined never to be emancipated." Finding he could no longer escape, he at length opened a correspondence with Sir John Malcolm; and, after some discussion, it was agreed that he should surrender; that, on being secured
