[1] Wade was commissioned into the Earl of Bath's Regiment on 26 December 1690[2] and served in Flanders in 1692, fighting at the Battle of Steenkerque in August 1692 during the Nine Years' War and earning a promotion to lieutenant on 10 February 1693.

[2] In 1704 he joined the staff of Henri de Massue, Earl of Galway as adjutant-general in Portugal,[2] and distinguished himself as colonel of the Huntingdon's Regiment during the Battle of Alcántara, where he was wounded in April 1706.

[3] He served as second in command to James Stanhope in Menorca in 1708,[2] leading one of the storming parties on Fort St. Philip, before returning to Spain in 1710, where he fought at the Battle of Saragossa in August 1710.

[6] The same year he was one of the original backers of the Royal Academy of Music, establishing a London opera company that commissioned numerous works from Handel and others.

On 10 May 1725, he was appointed Commander in Chief of His Majesty's forces, castles, forts and barracks in North Britain and was tasked with carrying out his own recommendations.

[4] Wade also organised a militia, "Highland Watches", and called on members of the landed gentry to sign up[13] and raised the first six companies in 1725 (three of Campbells and one each of Frasers, Grants, and Munros).

[14] Also in 1725, Wade put down an insurrection after the government attempted to extend the "malt tax" to Scotland, and enraged citizens in Glasgow drove out the military and destroyed the home of their representative in Parliament.

[4] In freezing conditions and with his men starving, he failed to counter their march into England or their subsequent retreat back from Derby to Scotland.

Wade was replaced as Commander-in-Chief by Prince William, Duke of Cumberland, who led the army to success at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746.

Wade died unmarried on 14 March 1748 and is buried at Westminster Abbey, where his life is recognised by a monument created by Louis-François Roubiliac.