Royal Naval Biography/Cadogan, George
HON. GEORGE CADOGAN,
A Companion of the Most Honorable Military Order of the Bath, and Knight of the Austrian Military Order of Maria Theresa.
[Post-Captain of 1807.]
Second son of Charles Sloane, the first Earl Cadogan, by Mary Churchill, grand-daughter of Robert, first Earl of Orford. This officer was born May 5, 1783; made a Lieutenant in 1802 , and advanced to the rank of Commander May 4, 1804.
On the 11th Nov. 1804, Captain Cadogan, then commanding the Cyane sloop of war, on the Leeward Islands station, captured, after a running fight of half an hour, le Buonaparte privateer brig, pierced for 22 guns, mounting 18 long French 8-pounders, with a complement of 150 men. The Cyane, on this occasion, sustained some trifling damage in her masts and hull, and had several men hurt by the explosion of a cartridge on the main-deck. Le Buonaparte was found in a very shattered condition, having lost her foremast, bowsprit, and top-masts, in a previous action with three English letters of marque; but no mention is made of her loss, if any, by the Cyane’s fire, in Captain Cadogan’s official letter.
On the 12th May, 1805, the Cyane was herself taken by two French frigates, near Martinique; and from that period we find no mention of Captain Cadogan until his promotion to post rank, Mar. 23, 1807. In the following year he commanded the Crocodile frigate, and had the honor of conveying Sir Arthur Wellesley from England to the peninsula.
Captain Cadogan’s next appointment was to the Pallas frigate, and in her he appears to have been very actively employed during the expedition against Antwerp. The following mention of him is made in Commodore Owen’s letter to Sir Richard J. Strachan, reporting the evacuation of Walcheren, in Dec. 1809.
“On the morning of the 23d, I received your letter, acquainting me that you intended to quit Flushing on that day. * * * * * I immediately made preparation likewise to withdraw. The boats assembled, and embarked the rear-guard of the army, under the direction of the Hon. Captain Cadogan; whilst the few remaining guns of Veere and Armuyden points were rendered useless, and every other article of stores was taken off. * * * * * In the Hon. Captain Cadogan, of the Pallas, I found a most Zealous second and supporter.”
In 1811, Captain Cadogan commanded the Havannah of 42 guns, employed on Channel service. On the 6th Sept. same year, observing that six chasse-marées had taken shelter under a battery of three 12-pounders, on the S.W. side of the Penmarks, he sent his first Lieutenant (the present Commander William Hamley) with the boats of the frigate, to spike the guns, and bring out or destroy the vessels, which service was performed in a very creditable manner. Four of the prizes taken on this occasion were laden with wine and brandy, as was also another which Lieutenant Hamley dismantled and set fire to; the sixth vessel had nothing on board but salt.
this evening by the Austrian troops, and the whole of the enemy to inarch out on the 9th, at ten A.M. – As soon as I can make ready a copy of the terms, I shall have the honor of forwarding them to you.”
Captain Cadogan’s detailed account of the operations against Zara was never published, owing to its late arrival in England; but we know that that fortress had no less than 110 guns and 18 howitzers mounted, and that its garrison consisted of veteran troops, commanded by Baron Roisé, an experienced French general. Twelve gun boats were also taken on that occasion. The following is an extract from Rear-Admiral Freemantle’s official letter to the Admiralty, written at Trieste, and forwarded from thence with the above hasty despatch, overland to London:
“The judgment, perseverance, and ability shewn by Captain Cadogan, on every occasion, will not, I am persuaded, escape their Lordships’ observation. With the crews of a frigate and a sloop he has accomplished as much as required the services of the squadron united at Trieste.”
We much regret that it is not in our power to procure the necessary information for entering into a further detail of this very important service.
Captain Cadogan was nominated a C.B. in 1815; and the Order of the Empress Maria Theresa was conferred upon him about the same period. He married, April 4, 1810, Louisa Honoria, sister of the first Lord Wallscourt; and he is at present heir presumptive to his half-brother. Earl Cadogan.
Agents.– Messrs. Goode and Clarke.