General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Sir Henry Crichton Sclater, (5 November 1855 – 26 September 1923) was a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

General during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Military career

Henry Crichton Sclater, the third son of James Henry Sclater and Louisa Catherine Fowler, was born on 5 November 1855. After being educated at Cheltenham, he went to the Royal Military Academy and was commissioned in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

in 1875. Sclater was a

General Staff Officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...

and later Deputy Assistant Adjutant General at the Headquarters for the Nile expedition between 1884 and 1885. 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 ...

on 15 June 1885, served in the Egyptian Frontier Field Force from 1885 to 1886 and was Deputy Assistant Adjutant General in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

from 1885 to 1890. Following his return to the United Kingdom, he was

Brigade major A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section direct ...

of Royal Artillery, until in late 1899 he was reassigned following the outbreak of the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

. He served as Assistant Adjutant General,

and Colonel on the General Staff of the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

(

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 ...

dated 31 March 1900). Following the end of the war, Lord Kitchener (Commander-in-Chief in South Africa) wrote in a despatch dated June 1902 how Sclater ''"possesses an unusual combination of ability and common sense. I consider him to be a Staff officer of exceptional value, to whom all ranks of the Royal Artillery in South Africa owe much."'' He returned home with the ''SS Kinfauns Castle'' leaving

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

in early August 1902, after the war had ended. In recognition of services during the war, he was appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(CB) in the South Africa honours list published on 26 June 1902, and he received the actual decoration from King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

after his return, during an investiture at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

on 24 October 1902. In September 1902, Sclater accompanied Lord Roberts, Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, and

St John Brodrick William St John Fremantle Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton, KP, PC, DL (14 December 185613 February 1942), styled as St John Brodrick until 1907 and as Viscount Midleton between 1907 and 1920, was a British Conservative and Irish Unionist Alli ...

, Secretary of State for War, on a visit to Germany to attend the German army maneuvers as guest of the Emperor Wilhelm. The following month, he was back as a regular regimental officer in the Royal Artillery, but in early November 1902 he was again appointed a staff officer as Deputy Director-General of Ordnance, with the substantive rank of colonel in the army. The

Army Ordnance Department The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

was responsible for supply of weapons and military equipment. He was Director of Artillery at the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

from 1903 to 1904 when he became Quartermaster General for

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. In 1908 he was appointed

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

Quetta Division Quetta Division is an administrative division of Balochistan Province, Pakistan, being the third tier of government. In 2015, the Balochistan Assembly unanimously passed a resolution calling upon the provincial government to establish a new R ...

in India. He served in

Adjutant-General to the Forces The Adjutant-General to the Forces, commonly just referred to as the Adjutant-General (AG), was for just over 250 years one of the most senior officers in the British Army. The AG was latterly responsible for developing the Army's personnel polic ...

and a Member of Army Council from 1914 to 1916: in this capacity he was responsible for the expansion of the Army in 1914. He served as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief for Southern Command from 1916 to 1919, and retired in 1922.

Family

On 12 June 1884 Sclater married Edith Barttelot. They had no children.

Death

Sclater died on 26 September 1923, and was survived by his wife, Dame Edith Sclater.Henry Crichton Sclater profile
ThePeerage.com; accessed 20 March 2016.

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Sclater, Henry 1855 births 1923 deaths British Army generals British Army generals of World War I Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Royal Artillery officers British Army personnel of the Second Boer War British Army personnel of the Mahdist War Place of birth missing Place of death missing