William Stephen Raikes Hodson (19 March 182111 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 Mughal king of Delhi (also referred to as emperor of India). The following day Hodson 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 subsequently shot his prisoners. Hodson's career received praise from a number of senior military commanders, such as General Hugh Gough, but there were dissenting voices from other members of the military. There were also 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 first khaki uniforms in the Indian army. Early life 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 who served 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 in which he was wounded. He was soon after transferred to the 1st European Bengal Fusiliers. In one of his letters home at this period he calls the campaign a "tissue of mismanagement, blunders, errors, ignorance and arrogance", and outspoken criticism such as this brought him many enemies throughout his career, who made the most of his character faults. A contemporary described him as "a 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