William Hope Meiklejohn
| William Hope Meiklejohn | |
|---|---|
 William Meiklejohn | |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom |
| Service/branch |
 British Indian Army |
| Rank | Brigadier-General |
| Commands held | Malakand Field Force |
| Battles/wars | Siege of Malakand 26 July – 2 August 1897 |
| Awards |
Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George |
Brigadier-General Sir William Hope Meiklejohn, KCB, CMG (1845 – 1909)[1] was a British military commander of the British Indian Army, who was in charge of the British garrison during the siege of Malakand in 1897.
Military career
Meiklejohn was commissioned a second lieutenant on 4 December 1861, promoted to lieutenant on 11 December 1862, captain on 24 May 1871, and major on 1 July 1881. He advanced to senior rank as lieutenant-colonel on 4 December 1887, and was promoted to colonel on 29 August 1893.[2]
As colonel, he was in charge of the British garrison during the siege of Malakand in northern India from 26 July to 2 August 1897 and later led a relief force to the besieged fort of Chakdara along with Sir Bindon Blood,[3] fighting against 50,000–100,000 Pashtun tribesmen[4][5] and suffering only 206 casualties. Meiklejohn was later credited for his skills in providing such a victory in dispatches sent to the military government in British India.[6]
He was appointed in command of a district in the Bengal Army on 8 December 1898, and posted to Rohilkhand, where he stayed in command until February 1900, when he returned home for a prolonged leave for medical reasons.[7] He was promoted to major-general on 19 March 1900. In August 1901 he was posted at Lucknow, and appointed in command of the district at Derajat.[8]
Family
Meiklejohn married, in 1893, Maud Louisa Hamilton Beamish, daughter of Rear-Admiral Henry Hamilton Beamish.[9]
Notes
- ↑ Wylly p. 138
- ↑ Hart's Army list, 1901
- ↑ BBC News Rare British India documents surface retrieved 2 June 2007
- ↑ Wilkinson-Latham p. 20
- ↑ Gore p. 405
- ↑ Dispatches from Major-General G de C Morton, 15 September 1897, cited in The Risings on the North-west Frontier, The Pioneer press, 1898 appendix III
- ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36063). London. 12 February 1900. p. 11.
- ↑ "Naval & Military intelligence". The Times (36525). London. 5 August 1901. p. 8.
- ↑ "Sitter: Lady Meiklejohn, née Maud Louisa Hamilton Beamish ( ).". Lafayette Negative Archive.
References
Printed sources:
- Gore, Surgeon General at Nowshera, for The Dublin Journal of Medical Science, 1898
- Wilkinson-Latham, Robert North-west Frontier 1837–1947, 1977 ISBN 0-85045-275-9
- Wylly, Harold C. From the Black Mountain to Waziristan, 1912
Websites:
- BBC News Rare British India documents surface retrieved 2 June 2007