Charles W . H . Douglas General Sir Charles Whittingham Horsley Douglas GCB , ADC ( 17 July 1850 – 25 October 1914 ) was a British Army officer who served in the Second Anglo - Afghan War , the First Boer War , the Suakin Expedition , the Second Boer War and World War I . He was Chief of the Imperial General Staff during the first three months of World War I but died from strain and overwork without having any meaningful influence on the outcome of the War . Military career . Born the son of William Douglas and Caroline Douglas ( née Hare ) and educated privately , Douglas was commissioned as an ensign in the 92nd Highlanders on 16 December 1869 . He was promoted to lieutenant on 28 October 1871 and became adjutant of the 92nd Highlanders on 31 December 1876 . Douglas served in the Second Anglo - Afghan War and , having been promoted to Captain on 29 July 1880 , participated in the 320 mile march from Kabul to Kandahar in Afghanistan between 9 – 31 August 1880 , under the command of General Frederick Roberts , earning the Kabul to Kandahar Star . He also took part in the Battle of Kandahar on 1 October 1880 and was mentioned in despatches . He also served in the First Boer War between 1880 and 1881 and was again mentioned in despatches . Promoted to brevet major on 1 March 1881 , he became adjutant of his Regiment again on 25 February 1882 . He went on the Suakin Expedition to Sudan in 1884 and became Deputy Assistant - Adjutant and Quartermaster - General on the Staff in Egypt on 6 March 1885 . He then returned to England to become adjutant of 7th Middlesex ( London Scottish ) Rifle Volunteers on 1 November 1886 . Promoted to the substantive rank of major on 28 November 1890 , he was appointed brigade major to the 1st Infantry Brigade in 1893 . Promoted to lieutenant colonel on 29 May 1895 , he became Deputy Assistant Adjutant - General at Aldershot Command on 1 October 1895 and Assistant Adjutant - General at Aldershot Command with the rank of brevet colonel on 28 March 1898 . He was made ADC to the Queen on 11 May 1898 and given the substantive rank of colonel on 18 May 1898 . He served in the Second Boer War as Assistant Adjutant - General on the Headquarters staff in South Africa from 9 October 1899 and then as Chief of Staff to the General Officer Commanding 1st Division . He was promoted to major - general for " distinguished service in the field " and made Commander of the 9th Infantry Brigade on 10 February 1900 . Following the Siege of Mafeking , Douglas was appointed Commander of Mafeking and the adjacent district on 28 August 1900 . After returning to England , he became Commander of 1st Infantry Brigade at Aldershot Garrison in 1901 and General Officer Commanding 2nd Division within First Army Corps on 1 April 1902 . He became Adjutant - General to the Forces on 12 February 1904 . At this time the Esher Committee chaired by Lord Esher was proposing far reaching changes to the structure of the British Army including the creation of a " blue ribbon " elite drawn strictly from the General Staff to the exclusion of Administrative Staff : Douglas strongly opposed this aspect of the proposals . Having been promoted to lieutenant general on 3 April 1905 , he became General Officer Commanding - in - chief at Southern Command on 1 June 1909 . He took part in the funeral procession following the death of King Edward VII in May 1910 and , having been promoted to full general on 31 October 1910 , became Inspector - General of Home Forces on 5 March 1912 . He was also Colonel of the Gordon Highlanders from 25 June 1912 . Douglas replaced Field - Marshal Sir John French as Chief of the Imperial General Staff on 6 April 1914 . Douglas served in that role during World War I , which started in July 1914 , but did not have any major impact on its conduct during the first three months , leaving strategic control to Field - Marshal Lord Kitchener as War Minister . He became ADC General to the King on 30 June 1914 . Douglas , who had not been in the best of health , died from strain and overwork at his home at Eaton Square in London on 25 October 1914 and was replaced by General Sir James Murray . Family . In 1887 he married Ida de Courcy ( née Gordon ) ; they had no children . External links .