Charles Cadogan, 2nd Baron Cadogan

General Charles Cadogan, 2nd Baron Cadogan (1684/85 – 24 September 1776) was a British Army officer and Whig politician.

Early life Cadogan was the younger son of Henry Cadogan of Liscarton, County Meath, and his wife, the former Bridget Waller, second daughter of the regicide Sir Hardress Waller. In 1726, he inherited his title on the death without male issue of his elder brother William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan, whose titles, other than 1st Baron Cadogan, became extinct.

Career He joined the Army, serving during the War of the Spanish Succession where he saw action at the Battles of Oudenarde and Malplaquet. His career benefited from his brother's close connection to the Army's Captain General the Duke of Marlborough. He rose, by 1715, to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Coldstream Guards. He was promoted Brigadier-General in 1735, Major-General in 1739, Lieutenant-General in 1745 and full General in 1761.

He was given the Colonelcy of the 4th Foot in 1719, transferring in 1734 to be Colonel of the 6th Dragoons until 1742, when he transferred a second time to be Colonel of the 2nd Troop of Horse Guards, a position he then held until his death.

Later, he served as Governor of Sheerness between 1749 and 1752 and Governor of Gravesend and Tilbury Fort from 1752 until his death in 1776. Together, they had one son:

Charles Sloane Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan (1728–1807), who married Frances Bromley, a daughter of Henry Bromley, 1st Baron Montfort. After her death, he married Mary Churchill, a daughter of Col. Charles Churchill and Lady Mary Walpole (a daughter of former Prime Minister Robert Walpole). They divorced in 1796.

Through his marriage to Elizabeth, the Sloane estate in suburban Chelsea was transferred to the Cadogan family in 1753, which has been the basis of the family wealth ever since. (Hans Sloane bought "The Manor of Chelsea" from William Cheyne in 1712 so he could display his great collections at the Manor House (once owned by Henry VIII).) The Manor included 11 great houses, a selection of tenements, the advowson of Chelsea Church and 166 acres.

Lady Cadogan died on 20 May 1768. At his death on 24 September 1776, he was the senior general in the British Army.