The following day (Sunday) the enemy reappeared about noon, but after two hours’ fighting they were again routed, and on our troops occupying their position, they could be seen in full retreat towards Delhi.  The rebels succeeded in taking their guns with them, for our men, prostrated by the intense heat and parched with thirst, were quite unable to pursue.  We had one officer and eleven men killed, and two officers and ten men wounded.  Among the latter was an ensign of the 60th Rifles, a boy named Napier, a most gallant young fellow, full of life and spirit, who had won the love as well as the admiration of his men.  He was hit in the leg, and the moment he was brought into camp it had to be amputated.  When the operation was over, Napier was heard to murmur, ’I shall never lead the Rifles again!  I shall never lead the Rifles again!’ His wound he thought little of.  What grieved him was the idea of having to give up his career as a soldier, and to leave the regiment he was so proud of.  Napier was taken to Meerut, where he died a few days afterwards.[2]

On the 1st June Wilson’s force was strengthened by the Sirmur battalion of Gurkhas,[3] a regiment which later covered itself with glory, and gained an undying name by its gallantry during the siege of Delhi.

On the 7th June Wilson’s brigade crossed the Jumna at Baghput, and at Alipur it joined Barnard’s force, the men of which loudly cheered their Meerut comrades as they marched into camp with the captured guns.  The siege-train had arrived the previous day, and Barnard was now ready for an advance.  His force consisted of about 600 Cavalry and 2,400 Infantry, with 22 field-guns.  There were besides 150 European Artillerymen, chiefly recruits, with the siege-train, which comprised eight 18-pounders, four 8-inch and twelve 5-1/2-inch mortars.  The guns, if not exactly obsolete, were quite unsuited for the work that had to be done, but they were the best procurable.  George Campbell, in his ‘Memoirs of my Indian Career,’ thus describes the siege-train as he saw it passing through Kurnal:  ’I could not help thinking that it looked a very trumpery affair with which to bombard and take a great fortified city;’ and he expressed his ’strong belief that Delhi would never be taken by that battery.’

Barnard heard that the enemy intended to oppose his march to Delhi, and in order to ascertain their exact position he sent Lieutenant Hodson (who had previously done good service for the Commander-in-Chief by opening communication with Meerut) to reconnoitre the road.  Hodson reported that the rebels were in force at Badli-ki-Serai a little more than halfway between Alipur and Delhi.  Orders were accordingly issued for an advance at midnight on the 7th June.

When it became known that a battle was imminent, there was great enthusiasm amongst the troops, who were burning to avenge the massacres of Meerut and Delhi.  The sick in hospital declared they would remain there no longer, and many, quite unfit to walk, insisted on accompanying the attacking column, imploring their comrades not to mention that they were ill, for fear they should not be allowed to take part in the fight.[4]