Charles was born on the 6th of August 1872, in Pensacola, North Carolina, where he grew up as the third oldest of his nine siblings. He enlisted in the US Army in 1898 and he was a Sergeant with Company I of the 22nd US Infantry when he displayed actions on the 19th of October 1899, that would later earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:

Most distinguished gallantry in action. Captured a bridge with the detachment he commanded and held it against a superior force of the enemy, thereby enabling an army to come up and cross.

Charles was leading a group of eleven other scouts when they charged to the opposite end of the bridge, which contained about 200 enemy troops. They were able to hold the bridge until reinforcements came to assist and Charles received the Medal of Honor on the 10th of March 1902, along with fellow scout Charles Pierce. Charles did not remain in the Army and other than marrying Myrtle and having seven children, not much else is known about his life. Charles Woodville Ray died on the 23rd of March 1959, at the age of 86 in Anadarko, Oklahoma. He is buried with his wife in the Grandfield Memorial Cemetery in Grandfield, Oklahoma: Block D, Lot 77.