Chandos-Pole purchased a commission in the 1st Foot Guards as an ensign on 1 May 1808, and fought in the Walcheren Campaign in 1809, and in the Peninsular War until 1813. He inherited the family property of Radbourne Hall from his father on 14 April 1813 and retired from the Army, although he did command a troop of Yeomanry Cavalry for Derbyshire. He was known in that county simply as "The Squire".