A Naval Biographical Dictionary/Cadogan, George
CADOGAN, Earl, C.B., K.M.T. (Rear-Admiral of the White, 1841. f-p., 16; h-p., 36.)
The Right Honourable George, Earl Cadogan, born 5 May, 1783, is eldest surviving son of the first Earl, by his second wife, Mary, daughter of Chas. Churchill, Esq.; brother of Lieut.-Col. Hon. Henry Cadogan, who fell at Vittoria 21 June, 1813, and of the present Lieut.-Col. Hon. Edw. Cadogan; half-brother of Hon. Thos. Cadogan, Capt., R.N., who was lost in H.M.S. Glorieux in 1782; and brother-in-law of the Marquess of Anglesey, as also of the Hon. and Rev. Gerald Valerian Wellesley, brother of the Duke of Wellington. He succeeded his half-brother, as third Earl, 23 Dec. 1832.
This officer entered the Navy, 15 Dec. 1795, as Fst.-cl. Vol., on board the Indefatigable 46, Capt. Sir Edw. Pellew, with whom he continued to serve, in the same frigate and in the Impétueux 78, on the Home and Mediterranean stations, until Feb. 1802, the greater part of the time as Midshipman and Master’s Mate. In the former ship he assisted, in April, 1796, at the capture of a fleet of French merchantmen, the destruction of La Volage 26, and the further capture of L’Unite of 38, and, after a chase of 15 hours and a close action of an hour and 45 minutes, of La Virginie of 44 guns. He was also, on 13 Jan. 1797, present, in company with the Amazon 36, in a very gallant engagement of 10 hours with the French 74-gun ship Les Droits de l’Homme, in which the Indefatigable sustained a loss of 19 men wounded. The Impétueux afterwards formed part, in June and Aug. 1800, of the expeditions to Quiberon and Ferrol. On 12 April, 1802, we find Mr. Cadogan appointed to a Lieutenancy in the Leda 38, Capts. Geo. Hope and Robt. Honyman, under the latter of whom he took part, 29 Sept. 1803, in a successful conflict with the enemy’s flotilla near Boulogne; and, on 4 May, 1804, obtaining official command of the Cyane 18, in the West Ladies, where that vessel, after capturing, 11 Nov. 1804 and 16 May, 1805, the French and Spanish privateers, Buonaparte, of 22 guns and 150 men, and Justicia, of 4 guns and 95 men, was herself taken, on 12 May, in the latter year, by the Hortense and Hermoine frigates. Capt. Cadogan, whose next appointment was, 22 March, 1806, to the Ferret 18, on the Jamaica station, obtained Post-rank 23 March, 1807, and subsequently joined – 6 Oct. 1807, the Crocodile 22, in which he served for some time on the Cape of Good Hope and Home stations, and conveyed Sir Arthur Wellesley from England to the Peninsula – 16 Sept. 1809, the Pallas 32, part of the force employed in the expedition to the Walcheren, at the evacuation of which island, in Dec. 1809, he superintended the embarkation of the rear-guard of the army, and proved a zealous second and supporter of Commodore Owen[1] – and, 6 June, 1811, the Havannah of 42 guns. After several months of active employment in the Channel, he proceeded to the Mediterranean, and there, in Dec. 1813, terminated a train of very effective services, marked on every occasion by a display of judgment, perseverance, and ability, by commanding the naval force at the reduction, after a cannonade of 13 days, of the strong fortress of Zara, mounting 110 guns, 7 large mortars, and 11 howitzers, and garrisoned by 2000 veteran troops under the command of Baron Roisé.[2] He was placed on half-pay on 31 of the last-mentioned month, and has not since been afloat. The Austrian Order of Maria Theresa was conferred on him 22 July, 1814; the C.B. 4 June, 1815; and the rank of Rear-Admiral 23 Nov. 1841. Earl Cadogan was appointed an Extra Naval Aide-de-camp to William IV. 5 Sept. 1831.
He married, 4 April, 1810, Louisa Honoria, daughter of Joseph Blake, Esq., of Ardfry, and sister of the first Lord Wallscourt, by whom he has issue four sons and two daughters. Agents – Goode and Lawrence.