Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Sir Charles Loftus Bates (2 August 1863 – 1951) was a British Army officer who served in the Second Boer War and the First World War. He was a cavalry officer in the

1st (King's) Dragoon Guards The 1st King's Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment in the British Army. The regiment was raised by Sir John Lanier in 1685 as the 2nd Queen's Regiment of Horse, named in honour of Queen Mary, consort of King James II. It was renamed the 2nd Kin ...

and the

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitu ...

(CO) of the Northumberland Hussars, part of the Yeomanry reserve. He stood as the prospective Conservative Member of Parliament for

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden, Northumberland, Warden nearby, and ...

and became the Chairman of the Race Course Owners Association and several coal companies.

History

Charles Loftus Bates was born 2 August 1863, at Aydon, Northumberland, the son of Thomas Bates. He was educated at Eton College. He became a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

Northumberland Militia The Militia and Volunteers of Northumberland are those military units raised in the County independent of the regular Army. The "modern" militia dates from legislation enacted during the Seven Years' War. The volunteers had several forms and separa ...

( Royal Artillery) in January 1881, before joining the regular army as a lieutenant in the

in January 1884. He served in this

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

regiment until 10 March 1896, when as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, he resigned from the regular army. He was later appointed a captain in the Reserve.

Reserve

Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War in late 1899, Bates volunteered for service with the Imperial Yeomanry, where he was commissioned a captain on 7 February 1900. He left Liverpool for South Africa the same week, and served with the 5th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry. On 18 October 1901 he was promoted to

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the yeomanry regiment the Northumberland Hussars, while still serving as a captain with the Imperial Yeomanry in South Africa. After the end of the war, he relinquished his active commission in the Imperial Yeomanry in October 1902. He was severely wounded during the war, and appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his service. Returning home, he was granted the honorary rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Northumberland Hussars on 8 May 1903. He became a substantive lieutenant-colonel and

(CO) of the Northumberland Hussars on 24 March 1905, was given the honorary rank of colonel on 4 August 1905, and in May 1913 was appointed as the Colonel of the Regiment for the Northumberland Hussars.

First World War

Just after the start of the First World War, on 10 November 1914, his reputation with horses led to his appointment as the Deputy Director of Remounts for the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

. The while holding the temporary rank of

brigadier-general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

, he relinquished that post on 17 December 1915. The next month, on 11 January 1916, he was invested as a

Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George IV, George IV, Prince of Wales, while he was acting as prince regent for his father, George III, King George III. ...

. Leaving the Western Front, he was posted to Egypt, and took up the post of Director of Remounts for the Sinai and Palestine campaign. He remained in the Middle East for the remainder of the war, and was awarded the Order of the White Eagle 3rd Class with Swords on 19 February 1917, and was also

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. On 29 April 1919, he relinquished his appointment and was granted the honorary rank of brigadier-general, and was invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George.

Civilian life

On 27 April 1892, at St Mary's Catholic Church,

, Bates married Katharine Leadbitter, daughter of Edward Leadbitter, from Spittal, Northumberland. They had one son, Edward Giles Bates, who served in the Northumberland Fusiliers (later the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers) in the First World War. He was an active Conservative, contesting the seat of Hexham in both a

1907 by-election Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

and the 1910 general election. The next year, in December 1911, he was appointed as the Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Northumberland. After the First World War he was appointed Chairman of the Race Course Owners Association. Then in later life he became Chairman of the Bedlington Coal Company Limited (1923-1947), Director of the Wallsend and Hebburn Coal Company Limited (1940-1947), and Director of the Hartley Main Collieries from 1947. Charles Loftus Bates died at his family home in 1951 at the age of 87.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Charles 1863 births 1946 deaths British Army brigadiers Military personnel from Northumberland People educated at Eton College Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Companions of the Order of the Bath Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George British Militia officers Royal Artillery officers 1st King's Dragoon Guards officers Imperial Yeomanry officers Northumberland Hussars officers Deputy Lieutenants of Northumberland British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army cavalry generals of World War I Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates