William Stephen Raikes Hodson

William Stephen Raikes Hodson
William Hodson, engraving printed as frontispiece to his biography Rider on a Grey Horse, by B.J. Cork, 1958
Born	19 March 1821 Maisemore Court, near Gloucester
Died	11 March 1858 Lucknow, British India
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Bengal Army
Rank	Brevet Major
Commands held	Corps of Guides Hodson's Horse
Battles/wars	First Anglo-Sikh War Indian Mutiny

Brevet Major William Stephen Raikes Hodson (19 March 1821 – 11 March 1858) was a British leader of irregular light cavalry during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, commonly referred to as the Indian Mutiny or the Sepoy Mutiny. He was known as "Hodson of Hodson's Horse".

His most celebrated action was to apprehend Bahadur Shah II, the king of Delhi (also referred to as emperor of India). 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.

Hodson's career received praise from a number of senior military commanders, such as General Hugh Gough, 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 been 'dishonourable'. However, Hodson's career received praise from more senior politicians including the prime minister and the secretary of state for India.

Hodson is credited with being jointly responsible for the introduction of the khaki uniform.

William Hodson was born on 19 March 1821 at Maisemore Court, near Gloucester, third son of the Rev. George Hodson, later Archdeacon of Stafford. His older brother was Rev. Dr James Stephen Hodson FRSE who served for many years as Rector of Edinburgh Academy.

He was educated at Rugby School under Thomas Arnold and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He accepted a cadetship in the Indian Army at the age of twenty-three, and after joining the 2nd Bengal Grenadiers he went through the First Anglo-Sikh War. He was soon after transferred to the 1st European Bengal Fusiliers.