ARCHDUKE (1817-1895 ), Austrian field-marshal, the eldest son of the Archduke Charles (Karl Friedrich), was born Aug. 3, 1817, in Vienna. After having been educated under the careful superin tendence of his father, he entered the Austrian army as a colonel of infantry in 1837, and was transferred to the cavalry arm in 1839, and became a lieutenant-field-marshal in 1843. He learned the art of war from Radetzky. At this time the Austrian generals and staff officers had committed themselves blindly to the strate gical method of the Archduke Charles, the tradition of whose practical soldiership survived only in Radetzky and a few others. Albert chose to follow Radetzky, and was thus saved from the pseudo-scientific pedantry which brought defeat to the Austrian arms in 1859 and in 1866.
He fought under Radetzky as a volunteer throughout the cam paign of 1848, having been present at the action of Pastrengo and the battles of Santa Lucia and Custozza. In the following cam paign he applied for and obtained the command of a division in the 2nd corps (under d'Aspre), though his previous grade had been that of commander-in-chief. The splendid fighting of the corps at Novara was decisive, and Radetzky named d'Aspre, Count Thurn, and the archduke as the general officers worthy of the greatest rewards. In 185o he became a general of cavalry, and in 1851 military and civil governor of Hungary, a position which he retained until 186o, when he was relieved at his own request.
Soon afterwards he was appointed to succeed Radetzky as com mander-in-chief in Italy, and in 1863 he was promoted to the rank of field-marshal. When war became imminent in 1866, the archduke took command of the field army in Italy. For the story of the campaign of 1866 in Italy, see ITALIAN WARS (1848-7o). The operations of the archduke, who disposed of considerably in ferior forces, were crowned with success in the brilliant victory of Custozza (June 23) , and his reputation as a general-in-chief was firmly established during only eight days of field operations, though it is possible that his chief of staff, Lieutenant-Field-mar shal von John, contributed not a little to the success of the Aus trian arms.
The result of Custozza was the retreat and complete immobili zation of the whole Italian army, so that Albert was able to dis patch the greater part of his troops to reinforce the Bohemian army, when, after having been defeated by the Prussians, it fell back on Vienna. On July Io the archduke was summoned to Vienna to take supreme command of the forces which were being collected to defend the capital, but peace was made before further hostilities took place. From this time, under various titles, he acted as inspector-general of the army.
Like his father, and with better fortune, he was called upon to reorganize the military system of his country on an entirely new plan, learned, as before, by defeat. The principle of universal short service, and the theory of the armed nation, were neces sarily the groundwork of the reforms, and the consequent prepa ration of all the national resources for their task in war, by the superintendence of peace administration, by the skilful conduct of manoeuvres, was thenceforward the task of his lifetime. In 1870 he conducted the military negotiations preparatory to an alliance with France, which, however, was not concluded. He retained personal control of the army until his last illness, which he contracted at the funeral of his nephew Francis, ex-king of Naples. His only remaining brother, the Archduke Wilhelm, had died a few months before, as the result of an accident. He him self died Feb. 18, 1895. His only son died in childhood, and his nephew Archduke Frederick (born 1856) inherited his great pos sessions, including the Albertina, a famous collection of books, manuscripts, engravings and maps, founded by Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen.
Among the military works of the Archduke Albert, tIber die Verant wortlichkeit im Kriege created a sensation, and was translated into English and French. He also wrote Gedanken giber dem Militqrgeist; Vber die hohere Leitung im Kriege; and Kritische Betrachtungen fiber den Feldzug 1866 in Italien. He was the principal editor of the military works of his father.
See Mathes v. Bilabrueck, "Gedenkrede auf Weiland Sr. K. u. K. H. Erzh. Albrecht," Mil.-Wissenschaftl. Verein (1895) ; Teuber, F. M. Erzh. Albrecht, ein Lebensbild (Vienna, i895) ; Duncker, F. M. Erz herzog Albrecht (Vienna and Prague, 1897) .