Meanwhile, the Nana Sahib's lieutenant, Tantya Tope, had gathered an army to recapture Cawnpore. The core of this army was the Gwalior Contingent. This was a body of troops in the service of the ruler of Gwalior, but which was recruited and organised on the same lines as the Bengal Presidency Army of the East India Company. The Gwalior Contingent had mutinied against their British officers in June and July. They had since remained undecided as to their next course of action until Tantya Tope took charge of them, and led them to Kalpi on 9 November, where they crossed the Jumna River and moved east on Cawnpore.