William Cadogan descended from a family of great honour and antiquity in Wales; and having embraced the profession of arms, he distinguished himself under King William III. in Ireland and Flanders, and was appointed major of the Inniskilling Dragoons. On the breaking out of hostilities in 1701, his great merit and abilities, which had become conspicuous in the preceding war, occasioned him to be promoted to the rank of colonel in the army, and appointed (1st June, 1701) quartermaster-general of the troops sent to Holland. He eminently distinguished himself under the great Duke of Marlborough, whose confidence and esteem he possessed in a high degree, and was promoted, in 1703, from the Inniskilling Dragoons to the colonelcy of the Sixth Horse. Advancing with the army into Germany he signalized himself at the battle of Schellenberg, on the 2d of July, 1704, where he had several shots through his clothes, and was wounded in the thigh. At the battle of Blenheim he evinced that undaunted bravery and greatness of soul with which he was signally endowed, and was promoted immediately afterwards to the rank of brigadier-general. In the following year he again signalized himself at the forcing of the French lines, where his regiment defeated the Bavarian Guards and took four standards; and in the memorable battle of Ramilies, fought on the 23d of May, 1706, he acquired new honour, and was despatched shortly after the action with a body of troops to summon Antwerp, which fortress surrendered to him in a few days. On the 16th of August he commanded a body of troops employed in covering a foraging party near Tournay, and advancing with his characteristic boldness too near the town, he was surprised by a party of the enemy and made prisoner; he was, however, released on his parole three days afterwards, and was subsequently exchanged for Baron Palavicini. In January, 1707, he was promoted to the rank of major-general, and he was afterwards appointed minister plenipotentiary to the government of the Spanish Netherlands, in which employment he evinced the most admirable dexterity in business, and a peculiar aptitude in conducting negotiations. He commanded the van of the army in the movements which preceded and led to the battle of Oudenarde in 1708, and on this occasion his peculiar merits again shone forth; also in the part which he took in covering the siege of Lisle, in the action at Wynendale, and in forcing the passage of the Scheldt; and on the 1st of January, 1709, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. On the day preceding the battle of Malplaquet he was sent to confer with the French commander, and when near the enemy's position he indicated to a colonel of artillery, by dropping his glove, the spot where a battery was to be placed on the following morning, which proved of great importance. During the siege of Mons he went voluntarily into the trenches to encourage the soldiers in the attack of a ravelin, when his aide-de-camp was killed at his side, and he was dangerously wounded in the neck. Every additional campaign added new lustre to his rising reputation, and in that sublime display of military talent by which the French lines were forced in the summer of 1711, and Bouchain captured, he performed a distinguished part, as detailed in the Historical Record of the Fifth Dragoon Guards. When political events occasioned the removal of the Duke of Marlborough from all his appointments dependent on the crown, Lieutenant-General Cadogan, who had shared with this illustrious commander in his toils, dangers, and triumphs, and who, like him, was stedfast in his devotion to the Protestant interest, and to the succession of the house of Hanover, was removed from his appointments of quartermaster-general and governor of the Tower, and called upon to dispose of his regiment for three thousand pounds to General Kellum. He was soon afterwards gratified by witnessing the accession of King George I., by whom he was appointed Colonel of the Second Foot Guards, Master of the Robes, and envoy extraordinary and plenipotentiary to the States General of Holland, in which capacity he conducted negotiations of great importance, and displayed those gifts of nature with which his mind was adorned; and while thus employed he was appointed Governor of the Isle of Wight. On the breaking out of the rebellion of the Earl of Mar, he changed the labours of the cabinet for those of the field, and in the depth of winter, in the midst of the most piercing frosts and snow, he evinced unshaken perseverance in extinguishing the flame of rebellion in Scotland, and was made a Knight of the most ancient order of the Thistle. On the 30th of June, 1716, he was elevated to the peerage by the title of Lord Cadogan, Baron of Reading. In the autumn of the same year he was again sent as plenipotentiary to the States of Holland; on his return in 1717 he was sworn of the Privy Council, and afterwards promoted to the rank of general; and in May, 1718, he was created Baron of Oakley, Viscount of Caversham, and Earl Cadogan. He was subsequently employed in negotiations of an important character with the house of Austria, Court of Spain, and States of Holland; and on the decease of the Duke of Marlborough in 1722, he was appointed General Commanding-in-Chief of the army. This distinguished nobleman died on the 17th of July, 1726, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
George Kellum,
Appointed 22d December, 1712.
George Kellum obtained the commission of cornet in the Earl of Shrewsbury's regiment of horse, now Fifth Dragoon Guards, when that corps was embodied in 1685, and he served in Ireland and the Netherlands, under King William III. Having been promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy, he commanded the regiment in the wars of Queen Anne, and was promoted to the rank of colonel in the army in 1703. In the following year he distinguished himself at the battle of Schellenberg, and led the regiment to the charge with signal gallantry at the glorious battle of Blenheim. At the forcing of the French lines in 1705, he acquired additional laurels; and at the memorable battle of Ramilies, the squadrons under his orders were again victorious. In 1707 he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general; in 1708 he commanded a brigade at the battle of Oudenarde; and in 1709 at that of Malplaquet; in 1710 he was promoted to the rank of major-general; and in 1712 to that of lieutenant-general; and in the same year he purchased the colonelcy of the regiment in which he had served so many years: he was, however, removed in 1717, and died on the 27th of December, 1732.
Robert Napier,
Appointed 27th May, 1717.
This officer was appointed cornet in the Sixth Horse, now Fifth Dragoon Guards, in January, 1692, and served with the regiment in the Netherlands until the peace of Ryswick. In 1702 he was promoted to the majority, and while serving with his regiment in Germany he was severely wounded at the battle of Schellenberg. In 1705 he was with his regiment at the forcing of the French lines, and in 1706 he was at Ramilies, and was promoted to the rank of colonel in the army a few days after the battle. He continued to serve at the theatre of war; was appointed brigadier-general in 1711; and obtained the colonelcy of the regiment in 1717. He was promoted to the rank of major-general in 1727; and to that of lieutenant-general in 1735: and died on the 10th of November, 1739.
Clement Neville,
Appointed 6th May, 1740.