Charles Craufurd entered the 1st Dragoon Guards as a cornet on 15 December 1778. Promoted a lieutenant in 1781, he was raised to the rank of captain in the 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays) in 1785. He became the equerry and intimate friend of the Duke of York. He studied in Germany for some time, and, with his brother Robert's assistance, translated Tielke's book on the Seven Years' War ("The Remarkable Events of the War between Prussia, Austria and Russia from 1756 to 1763"). As "aide-de-camp" he accompanied the Duke of York to the French War on the Netherlands in May 1793 attached to the Austrian HQ's commander-in-chief. He was at once sent as commissioner to the Austrian headquarters, with which he was present at Neerwinden, Caesar's Camp, Famars, Landrecies, etc.