| William Hope Meiklejohn | |
| Rank: | Brigadier-General |
| Commands: | Malakand Field Force |
| Battles: | 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.
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 April 1901 he was posted to Lucknow, and officiated in command there until late 1902 when the actual commanding officer Sir Alfred Gaselee arrived.[8] Meiklejohn had been appointed in command of the district at Derajat in August 1901,[9] but it appears he did not take up this position as he officiated in Lucknow.
Meiklejohn married, in 1893, Maud Louisa Hamilton Beamish, daughter of Rear-Admiral Henry Hamilton Beamish.[10]
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