Dictionary of National Biography, 1927 supplement/Douglas, Charles Whittingham Horsley
DOUGLAS, Sir CHARLES WHITTINGHAM HORSLEY (1850-1914), general, was born 17 July 1850 at the Cape of Good Hope, the second son of William Douglas, of Lansdown, near Bath, by his (second) wife, Caroline, daughter of Captain Joseph Hare. He entered the army (92nd Highlanders) in 1869, and became lieutenant two years later. He first saw active service as adjutant of his regiment in the Afghan War of 1879-1880. In this campaign he took part in (Earl) Roberts’s famous march from Kabul to Kandahar, and was present at the action of Kandahar on 1 September 1880. He served as captain with his regiment in the Boer War of 1880-1881, and was made brevet major in the latter year. His chief engagement in this campaign was the battle of Majuba Hill on 27 February 1881. Three years later he was given a staff appointment (deputy assistant adjutant and quartermaster-general) for the Suakin expedition, and in 1885 was promoted to the substantive rank of major. In 1893 he was appointed brigade-major to the 1st infantry brigade, and two years later became lieutenant-colonel on his appointment as deputy assistant adjutant-general at Aldershot. He was promoted assistant adjutant-general, Aldershot, with brevet rank of colonel in 1898. In this year he was appointed aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria and made full colonel. He was engaged in the South African War (1899-1901), being at first assistant adjutant-general on the head-quarters staff of the South Africa field force, subsequently commanding the 9th brigade, and finally, in 1900, commanding a column of all arms of the South Africa field force, with the rank of major-general.
In 1901 Douglas was given the command of the 1st infantry brigade at Aldershot, and in the following year of the 2nd division of the first army corps. In 1904 he became adjutant-general at the War Office. He was one of the four generals who formed, with three civilian members and a secretary, the first Army Council under the system introduced by the Esher committee in 1904. In this appointment he was very closely associated with the many reforms effected by Viscount Haldane when secretary of state for war. His long experience in administrative posts made his services at the War Office, during this period of reorganization, of peculiar value; and, in 1909, when his term of duty there expired, he was made general officer commanding-in-chief, Southern command. In his second year as adjutant-general he was made lieutenant-general, and full general in 1910. He was created K.C.B. in 1907 and promoted G.C.B. in 1911. In 1912 he was appointed inspector-general, home forces, and carried out the duties of that office with the conscientiousness that had characterized all his previous activities, with the result that the staff tours conducted under his direction were regarded as models. In 1914 he was appointed aide-de-camp to King George V, and became chief of the Imperial General Staff. In the early days of the European War (1914-1918) he was of great assistance to Earl Kitchener, the secretary of state for war; for no one had a clearer perception of administrative necessities, or a more intimate knowledge of the army generally. He was a great worker, and was still on duty in his high position when he died in London on 25 October 1914. He married in 1887 Ida de Courcy, daughter of George Tomlin Gordon, J.P., of Cuckney, Nottinghamshire. There were no children of the marriage.
The Times, 26 October 1914; private information.]