Charles Metcalfe (British Army officer)

Major-General Charles Theophilus Evelyn Metcalfe, CB (7 February 1856 – 1912) was a British Army officer who became General Officer Commanding 6th Division.

Charles Metcalfe
Born	7 February 1856 Edinburgh, Scotland
Died	1912
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1874-1910
Rank	Major-General
Commands held	2nd Bn the Rifle Brigade 6th Division
Battles/wars	Second Boer War
Awards	Companion of the Order of the Bath

Military career

Educated at Malvern Wells, Eton College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst,[1] Metcalfe was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade as a lieutenant in September 1874. Promoted to captain on 1 January 1884, he took part in the Burma expedition in 1886. After promotion to major on 17 May 1893, he then joined the Tochi Field Force on the North West Frontier of India in 1897, following which he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 5 December 1898.[2][3]

He served as Commanding Officer of 2nd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade during the Second Boer War, taking part in the Relief of Ladysmith, and was promoted to colonel on 29 November 1900. For his service in the war, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the October 1902 South African honours list.[4] He stayed in South Africa until after the war had ended in June 1902, and was later that year appointed colonel on the Staff commanding the Troops in British Mauritius with the rank of Brigadier-General.[2] The Mauritius command had been vacant since the start of the war in late 1899. Leaving Port Natal on the SS Ortona in early November, he arrived at Port Louis to take up the command on 12 November 1902.[5]

He was appointed General Officer Commanding 6th Division in Southern Ireland in 1909.[6] Metcalfe retired in 1910.[2]

Publications

• Metcalfe, C.; Ricarde-Seaver, Major F. I. (1889). British Sphere of Influence in South Africa. Fourtnightly Review.[7]

References

1. Cork Past and Present
2. Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives
3. Hart′s Army list, 1903
4. "No. 27490". The London Gazette. 31 October 1902. p. 6905.
5. "The Army in South Africa - Movement of Troops". The Times (36925). London. 14 November 1902. p. 9.
6. Army Commands Archived 5 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
7. The Guardian (newspaper) 6 March 1889

Military offices
Preceded by Colonel John Talbot Coke	Commanding British troops in Mauritius 1902–1909?	Succeeded by
Preceded by Lawrence Parsons	General Officer Commanding the 6th Division 1909–1910	Succeeded by William Pulteney