caption branch commands death_place death_date birth_place battles birth_date rank image article_title name
william biography '' rider on a grey horse '' , by hodson b.j. cork , 1958 , engraving printed as frontispiece to his bengal army corps of guides hodson 's horse lucknow , british india 11 march 1858 maisemore court , near gloucester first anglo-sikh war indian mutiny 10 march 1821 brevet major williamhodson.jpg william stephen raikes hodson
 william stephen raikes hodson
william stephen raikes hodson

brevet major william stephen raikes hodson -lrb- 10 march 1821 -- 11 march 1858 -rrb- was a british leader of irregular light cavalry during the indian rebellion of 1857 -lrb- also known as the indian mutiny or the sepoy mutiny -rrb- .
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 -lrb- also referred to as emperor of india and bahadur shah ii -rrb- .
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 -lrb- see references below -rrb- 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 .
