Erzherzog Albrecht
Archduke
Albrecht Friedrich Rudolf was born on the 3rd of August 1817 as the son of the
famous Austrian field marshal and victor at the battle of Aspern, Archduke Carl
and Princess Henritte of Nassau-Weilburg. From his earliest years the young
Archduke commenced a military education and already at the age of 13 he was
appointed as the Inhaber or regimental colonel of the 44th line infantry
regiment. On the 17th of May 1837 he was assigned as a battalion commander in
the 13th line infantry regiment followed by his assignment to the 4th Cuirassier
regiment on the 1st of March 1839. Promoted to Generalmajor in 1840 he was
appointed to the brigade command at Graz on the 11th of September 1840 and on
the 11th of August 1843 he was promoted to Feldmarschall-Lieutenant and
appointed as the commanding general of the Moravian-Silesian General Command. On the 1st of May 1844 he married the third daughter of the Bavarian King Ludwig I.,
Hildegard, who died on the 2nd of April 1864 at the age of only 39. They had 3 children, their only son, Carl Albrecht, died as an
infant in 1848 and their youngest daughter, Mathilde, died during a fire on the 6th of June 1867. Only their
eldest daughter, Maria Theresia Anna, survived to adulthood and married the Herzog Philipp of Württemberg on the 7th of January 1865. On
the 15th of December 1844 he was transferred as the commanding general in Lower
and Upper Austria and also of Salzburg. In the war against Piedmont in 1848 he
initially saw service at the headquarters of field marshal Radetzky and
participated in the battle of Saint Lucia on the 6th of May. In October he was
appointed as a divisional commander in General d'Aspre's II corps which he led
the following year during the continued fighting in northern Italy. The Archduke
led his division during the crossing of the river Ticino at Pavia, the small
encounter at Gravellone on the 20th of March and the assault at Mortara on the
following day. Two days later he again led his division into action at the
battle of Novara for which his actions earned him the award of the Commander's
Cross of the Military Maria Theresia Order at the 153rd promotion on the 29th of
June 1849. He was additionally awarded the Military Merit Cross for his service
in the campaigns of 1848/49.
On the 11th of October 1849 he was appointed commander of the
federal fortress at Mainz however only five days later he was switched to the
command of the III corps in Bohemia with a further appointment as military
commander in Prague on the 11th of March 1850. He was promoted to General der
Cavallerie on the 14th of September 1850. The 12th of September of the following
year brought his appointment as commanding general of the III army and the
simultaneous post as both the military and civil governor of the Kingdom of
Hungary. Awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Stephen on the13th of
July 1852, he led his army into the Siebenbürgen and the Bukovina in 1854. He
held the III army command for some nine years. Although provisionally selected
for an active federal command in the case of the German Federation becoming
involved during the war against France in 1859, he did not participate in the
conflict and remained at his post as the commanding general in Hungary until at
his own request he was relieved of that appointment on the 19th of April 1860.
During the summer of 1860 he was employed as an inspector-general in various
parts of the monarchy until appointed again at his own request to field command.
He was appointed commanding general of the VIII corps in Italy which he led for
two years. Promoted to field marshal on the 4th of April 1863 he headed a
commission on army reform and again acted as an inspector-general.
With
the outbreak of the war against Prussia and Italy in 1866, Feldmarschall
Archduke Albrecht assumed command of the monarchy's "South Army"
facing the Italians on the 9th of May whilst the former chief of staff and
commander in northern Italy, Feldzeugmeister Ludwig Ritter von Benedek
was appointed to command the "North Army" in Bohemia. Archduke
Albrecht's relatively small force of some 70,000 men and 168 guns was
concentrated in the area of the "Quadrilateral" forts on the left bank
of the middle Etsch river and consisted of three under strength corps each of
just three brigades. At this time the Austrian army had dispensed with
divisional headquarters and the individual brigades were directly subordinated
to their respective corps commander. Ably assisted by his competent chief of
staff, Feldmarschall-Lieutenant Franz Freiherr von John, the Archduke was to
lead Südarmee in the hard fought 2nd battle of Custozza on the 24th of June
1866 against the numerically superior Italian Mincio Army under General Alfonso
La Marmora. Following the Italian crossing of the Mincio river on the 23rd of
June, the complicated and rather confused battle took place the following day.
After a somewhat shaky start, the Austrians eventually took Monte Vento and
Santa Lucia and once Monte Croce was taken, the Italians were forced to retreat
back across the Mincio in some disorder. Unfortunately for the Austrian cause
FZM Benedek's force in Bohemia was comprehensively defeated in Bohemia
culminating in the battle at Königgrätz and Austria was in fact compelled to
cede most of it's northern Italian possessions despite it's victory in the
south. Albrecht was summoned to assume command of all the forces of the monarchy
on the 10th of July and accompanied by FML Freiherr von John he reported to
Vienna on the 13th. Following the conclusion of peace he was appointed army
commander in chief on the 15th of January 1868 and the general inspector of the
Imperial and Royal Army on the 24th March 1869
For his accomplishments on the Mincio Archduke Albrecht was
awarded the Grand Cross of the the Military Maria Theresia Order at the 164th promotion on the 29th of
August 1866. The commander of his VII corps, Feldmarschall-Lieutenant. Joseph
Freiherr Maroičić di Madonna del Monte and
Freiherr von John, the chief of staff were both awarded Commander's Crosses with
Knight's Crosses going to Gabriel Freiherr von Rodich of V corps, Ernst
Hartung
of XI corps, the brigade commanders Eugen Freiherr Piret de Bihain and Ludwig
Pulz, IX corps chief of staff Ludwig Ritter von Pielsticker and Rittmeister
Anton Freiherr von Bechtolsheim of the12th Uhlans.
At his post as inspector general Archduke Albrecht put into effect
the much needed reforms necessary after the defeats in Bohemia. He would remain
in this post for nearly twenty six years until his death on the 18th of
February 1895 . He was appointed Oberst-Inhaber of the 5th Dragoons on the 25th
of November 1875 which he remained until the 13th of May 1888. He was appointed
Inhaber of the 5th corps artillery regiment on 25th of April 1887 which
coincided with his sixtieth year of military service. Feldmarschall Erzherzog
Albrecht von Österreich was the last serving Austrian officer to hold the rank
of field marshal until his adoptive son Erzherzog Friedrich was promoted to that
rank on the 8th of December 1914.
The Archduke also held the following titles, orders and honorary
appointments: Duke of Teschen, Knight of the Golden Fleece, the War Medal
and the Military Merit Badge 2nd Class, Grand Crosses of the Grand Duke of
Tuscany Saint Josef and Imperial Russian Saint George Orders, Knight of the
Imperial Russian Saint Andreas, Alexander Nevsky, White Eagle, Saint Anne and
Saint Vladimir Orders 1st Class, Grand Cross of the French Legion of Honour, the
Ottoman Osmanie Order 1st Class (with Diamonds), Grand Cross of the Imperial Brazilian
Order of the Southern Cross, Knight of the Royal Prussian Black and Red Eagle
Orders 1st Class and Military Merit Order, Knight of the Royal Italian Order of
Anunciata, the Royal Bavarian Saint Hubertus and Military Max Josef Orders, The
Royal Saxon Order of the Rautenkrone, Grand Cross of the Royal Württemberg
Order of the Crown, Grand Cross of the Royal Greek Order of the Holy Redeemer,
the Royal Belgian Leopold Order, the Royal Portuguese Order of the Sword and the
Tower, the Royal Hanoverian Saint George and Guelphic Orders, the Royal Sicilian
Saint Ferdinand and Merit Orders, the Grand Duchy of Baden Order of Faith, the
Grand Duchy of Hesse Ludwig Order, the Grand Duchy of Saxon-Weimar Order of the White
Falcon. the Duchy of Nassau House Order of the Golden Lion , the Duchy of
Brunswick Order of Henry the Lion, Commander of the Royal Dutch Military Order
of Wilhelm, holder of the papal commemoration medal, Inhaber of the 4th Infantry
Regiment, Chief of the Imperial Russian 86th Infantry Regiment and the 5th
Lithuanian Uhlan Regiment and Chief of the Royal Prussian 2nd East Prussian
Grenadier-Regiment Number 3.
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