Rani died on 17 June, 1858 during the battle for Gwalior with 8th Hussars that took place in Kotah-Ki-Serai near Phool Bagh area of Gwalior. She donned warrior's clothes and rode into battle to save Gwalior Fort, about 120 miles west of Lucknow in what is now the state of Madhya Pradesh. The British captured Gwalior three days later. In the report of the battle for Gwalior, General Sir Hugh Rose commented that the Rani "remarkable for her beauty, cleverness and perseverance" had been "the most dangerous of all the rebel leaders".
In that battle she was killed. However, the lack of any corpse to be convincingly identified as Rani convinced Captain Rheese of the so called "bravest" regiment that Rani had not actually perished in the battle for Gwalior, stating publicly that:"[the] Queen of Jhansi is alive!". It is believed the funeral for Rani was arranged on same day in the nearby spot where she was wounded. One of the Rani's maid servant who survived helped with the arrangement of quick funeral.