William Stephen Raikes Hodson Brevet Major William Stephen Raikes Hodson ( 10 March 1821 – 11 March 1858 ) was a British leader of irregular light cavalry during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 ( also known as the Indian Mutiny or the Sepoy Mutiny ) . He was known as " Hodson of Hodson ' s Horse . " His most celebrated action in British 19th century annals , was to apprehend the King of Delhi ( also referred to as Emperor of India and Bahadur Shah II . The following day he rode to the enemy camp , heavily outnumbered by the rebels and demanded the surrender of the Mughal princes who were leading the rebellion around Delhi and killed them . It needs to be noted that in the course of the Mutiny a number of male members of Bahadur Shar II ' s family were killed by East India Company forces , who imprisoned or exiled the surviving members of the Mughal dynasty ; furthermore , Bahadur Shah II was tried on four counts , two of aiding rebels , one of treason , and being party to the murder of 49 people - however , as Hodson had previously guaranteed his life the Emperor eventually died peacefully of old age . Hodson ' s career received praise from a number of senior military commanders such General Hugh Gough ( see references below ) but there were certain dissenting voices from other members of the military . There were also a few politicians who felt the killing of Mughal princes by Hodson had done ' dishonour ' , however Hodson ' s career received praise from more senior politicians including the Prime Minister and Minister for India . Hodson is credited with being jointly responsible for the introduction of the khaki uniform . Early career . William Hodson was born on 9 March 1821 at Maisemore Court , near Gloucester , third son of the Rev . George Hodson . He was educated at Rugby School under Dr Arnold and at Trinity College , Cambridge . He accepted a cadetship in the Indian Army at the age of twenty - three ; joining the 2nd Bengal Grenadiers , he went through the First Anglo - Sikh War . Unusually among officers of the time , William Hodson was a Cambridge graduate and keen linguist . A contemporary described him as tall man with yellow hair , a pale , smooth face , heavy moustache , and large , restless , rather unforgiving eyes … a perfect swordsman , nerves like iron , and a quick , intelligent eye . Hodson delighted in fighting and his favourite weapon was the hog spear . He was a brilliant horseman with the capacity to sleep in the saddle . He was described as ' the finest swordsman in the army ' . The initial assistance he gave in organising the newly formed Corps of Guides in December 1846 had been one of Sir Henry Lawrence ' s projects in which Hodson excelled . The Guides Corps had Lt Harry Burnett Lumsden as its commandant and Lt Hodson as adjutant . Significantly , among the duties assigned to Hodson was responsibility for equipping the new regiment which necessitated his choosing the regiment ' s uniform . Accordingly in May 1848 he liaised with his brother Rev . George Hodson , in England , to send all the cloth , rifles and Prussian - style helmets required . With Lumsden ' s approval , Hodson decided upon a lightweight uniform of Khaki colour - or ' drab ' as it was then referred to . This would be comfortable to wear and ' make them invisible in a land of dust ' . As a result Hodson and Lumsden had the joint distinction of being the first officers to equip a regiment dressed in Khaki which many view as the precursor of modern camouflage uniform . For a while , later , he was transferred to the Civil Department as Assistant Commissioner in 1849 and stationed at Amritsar ; and from there he travelled in Kashmir and Tibet . In 1852 he was appointed Commandant of the Corps of Guides . As well as being unusual among British soldiers in India for being a Cambridge university graduate , he also enjoyed classical literature for relaxation , and was a keen linguist - this included his interest in learning the main language ( s ) of his host country at that time . On his arrival in India he started first learning ‘ Hindustani ‘ and later Persian , with the help and encouragement from his mentor Sir Henry Lawrence . This apparently was of intellectual and cultural interest to him . Particularly as his army quarters offered him little in the way of culture or reading - matter , save for the ‘ usual copy of the Bible and works of Shakespeare ’ . This led him to eventually order from his brother “ a formidable collection of classics , though he probably saw nothing incongruous in spending three hours a day studying Persian , and turning later for relaxation to untranslated Xenophon … ” . Indian Rebellion . At the outset of the Indian Mutiny he made his name by riding with despatches from General Anson from Karnal to Meerut and back again , a distance of 152 miles in seventy - two hours , through country full of hostile cavalry . Following this feat , the commander - in - chief empowered him to raise and command a new regiment of 2000 irregular horse , which became famed as " Hodson ' s Horse " , and placed him at the head of the Intelligence Department . In his double role of cavalry leader and intelligence officer , Hodson played a large part in the reduction of Delhi . As already indicated , his major achievement at this time was the capture of the Mughal Emperor , Bahadur Shah II ; and his major discredit the execution of the three Mughal princes , Bahadur ' s sons Mirza Mughal and Mirza Khizr Sultan and his grandson Mirza Abu Bakr . The British knew that the old Emperor of India ( or " King of Delhi " ) was proving to be a focus for the uprising and the mutineers , and that he , his sons and their army were camped just outside Delhi at Humayun ' s Tomb . The General in command said he could not spare a single European . Hodson volunteered to go with 50 of his irregular horsemen , this request was turned down but after some persuasion Hodson obtained from Colonel ( later General ) Archdale Wilson permission to ride out to where the enemy were encamped . Hodson rode 6 miles through enemy territory into their camp , containing some 6000 or more armed mutineers , who are said to have laid their arms to grounds when he ordered them to . Some have seen this abject surrender as highly symbolic of the decline of the Turks and Mughals , which had started after Aurangzeb ; but the fact was that the mutineers , or rebels , at Delhi were simply demoralised after their hard - fought defeat and severe privations . Here he accepted the surrender of Bahadur Shah II , the last of the Moghul Emperors of India , promising him that his life would be spared . The capture of the Emperor in the face of a threatening crowd dealt the mutineers a heavy blow . As a sign of surrender the Emperor handed over his arms , which included two magnificent swords , one with the name ‘ Nadir Shah ’ and the other with the seal of Jahangir engraved upon it , which Hodson intended to present to Queen Victoria . The swords he took from the Emperor were given to the Queen as a symbol of the Emperor ' s surrender and are still held in the Queen ' s Collection . The sons of the king , the princes had refused to surrender , demanding guarantees of safety and on the following day with a few horsemen Hodson went back and demanded the princes ' unconditional surrender . Again a crowd of thousands of mutineers gathered , and Hodson ordered them to disarm , which they did . He sent the princes on with an escort of ten men , while with the remaining ninety he collected the arms of the crowd . The princes were mounted on a bullock - cart and driven towards the city of Delhi . As they approached the city gate , a crowd of people again started to gather around them , and Hodson ordered the three princes to get off the cart and to strip off their top garments . He then took a carbine from one of his troopers and shot them dead before stripping them of their signet rings , turquoise arm - bands and bejewelled swords . Their bodies were ordered to be displayed in front of a " kotwali " , or police - station , and left there to be seen by all . The gate near where they were killed is still called the Khooni Darwaza , or ' Bloody Gate ' . The murders were controversial even at the time , the future Frederick Roberts , 1st Earl Roberts , then a junior officer serving in the Delhi campaign would later call it a " blot " and criticized " an otherwise brilliant officer " for exposing himself to criticism . Other first hand accounts , such as William Ireland also called into question the exigency of the murders . His service record showed that he had often behaved in arbitrary fashion before , and he had previously been removed from civil duties by the then Governor General of India , Lord Dalhousie . Accusations of corruption . In 1855 , two separate main charges were brought against Hodson . The first was that he had arbitrarily imprisoned a Yusufzai Pathan chief named Kader Khan , on suspicion of being concerned in the murder of Colonel Mackeson . The man was acquitted , and Lord Dalhousie removed Hodson from his civil functions and remanded him to his regiment on account of his lack of judgment and gross negligence . The second charge was more serious , amounting to an accusation of misappropriation of the funds of his regiment . He was tried by a court of inquiry , who found that his conduct to natives had been unjustifiable and oppressive , that he had used abusive language to his native officers and personal violence to his men , and that his system of accounts was calculated to screen peculation and fraud . However , a subsequent inquiry was carried out by Major Reynell Taylor : ' Taylor ' s investigation took two months , during which time he went through every item received or paid out by Hodson over the two years of his command ' . By the end of his investigation into the record of Hodson ' s accounts Taylor found ' it to be an honest and correct record from beginning to end - It has been irregularly kept , but every transaction , from the least to the greatest , has been noted in it , and is traceable to the individual concerned ' During a tour through Kashmir with Sir Henry Lawrence he kept the purse and Sir Henry could never obtain an account from him ; subsequently , Sir Henry ' s younger brother Sir George Lawrence accused him of embezzling the funds of the Lawrence Asylum at Kasauli ; while Sir Neville Chamberlain in a published letter says of the third brother , Lord Lawrence , " I am bound to say that Lord Lawrence had no opinion of Hodson ' s integrity in money matters . He has often discussed Hodson ' s character in talking to me , and it was to him a regret that a man possessing so many fine gifts should have been wanting in a moral quality which made him untrustworthy . " Finally , on one occasion Hodson spent £500 of the pay due to Lieutenant Godby , and under threat of exposure was obliged to borrow the money from a local banker named Bisharat Ali through one of his officers . Financial matters . Throughout his career Hodson was dogged by accusations of , at best , negligence in financial matters and , at worst , theft . He was investigated on more than one occasion but nothing was ever proved . His detractors claim he was a looter . His supporters say that these accusations came from those who disliked his manner and his military success . He had not followed the normal career path for an officer and he was renowned for his curt , brisk manner and was not afraid to step on toes or say what was on his mind . On the other hand the Rev . G Hodson states in his book that he obtained the inventory of his brother ' s possessions made by the Committee of Adjustment and it contained no articles of loot , and Sir Charles Gough , president of the committee , confirmed this evidence . This statement is totally incompatible with Sir Henry Daly ' s and is only one of many contradictions in the case . Sir Henry Norman stated that to his personal knowledge Hodson remitted several thousand pounds to Calcutta which could only have been obtained by looting . On the other hand , again , Hodson died a poor man , his effects , which included a ring , watch , Bible and Prayer book , and a miniature , were sold for only £170 . General remarked " there was nothing in his boxes but what an officer might legitimately and honourably have in his possession . " His widow did not have money enough to pay for her passage home and she had to apply to the Compassionate Fund for assistance , which was granted . She was given apartments by the Queen at Hampton Court , and left only £400 at her death . Death . On 11 March 1858 Hodson ' s regiment was in Lucknow and while storming the Begum ' s palace ( " Begum Kothi " ) he was shot . His last words were " I hope I have done my duty " . On the evening of 12 March 1858 , his body was buried in the garden of La Martiniere Lucknow . His grave is still located within the grounds of La Martiniere College . The memorial bears the inscription " Here lies all that could die of William Stephen Raikes Hodson " . Legacy . Though the British Empire looked upon Hodson as somewhat of a hero , he is remembered in India mostly for his excesses while trying to curb the 1857 Revolt . He is also remembered for a number of notable achievements in his lifetime . His military career won him respect and praise from many quarters ; this included recognition from the Secretary of State for India , the Prime Minister and Queen Victoria . In parliamentary speeches made on 14 April 1859 the Prime Minister Earl of Derby , and the Minister for India Lord Stanley , singled - out Major Hodson for his unique services to the country . Lord Stanley is quoted as saying : The Prime Minister said of him General Hugh Gough said of him , This recognition of Hodson by the Prime Minister was reflected in the special pension granted his widow by the Secretary of State for India in Council , who declared it was ' testimony of the high sense entertained of the gallant and distinguished services of the late Brevet - Major W . S . R . Hodson ' . Her Majesty Queen Victoria honoured Major Hodson posthumously by granting his widow a Grace and favour apartment at Hampton Court Palace " in consideration of the distinguished service of your late husband in India " . He features as one of the main characters in James Leasor ' s novel about the Mutiny , " Follow the Drum " ( 1972 ) , which describes his part in these events and his death in some detail . Verse . The following verses by Sir Mortimer Durand appeared in India shortly after Hodson ' s death : I rode to Delhi with Hodson : there were three of my Father ' s sons ; Two of them died at the foot of the ridge , in the line of the Mori ' s guns . I followed him on when the great town fell ; he was cruel and cold they said : The men were sobbing around the day that I saw him dead . It is not soft words that a soldier wants ; we know what he was in fight ; And we love the man that can lead us , ay , though his face be white . And when the time shall come , sahib , as come full well it may , When all things are not fair and bright , as all things seem today , When foes are rising round you fast , and friends are few and cold And half a yard of trusty steel is worth a prince ' s gold Remember Hodson trusted us , and trust the old blood too , And as we followed him - to death - our sons will follow you . Family . On 5 January 1852 , he married Susan ( d . 1884 ) , daughter of Capt C . Henry , RN and widow of John Mitford of Exbury , at Calcutta Cathedral , whom he had known and liked for some time prior to her first marriage . A daughter , Olivia , was born in 1853 but died in July 1854 .