ALBERT, FREDERICK AUGUSTUS king of Saxony, was born April 23, 1828, being the eldest son of Prince John, who succeeded to the throne in 1854. In 1849 he served as a captain in the campaign of Schleswig-Holstein against the Danes. When the war of 1866 broke out, the crown prince was placed in command of the Saxon forces opposing the Prus sian army of Prince Frederick Charles. No attempt was made to defend Saxony ; the Saxons fell back into Bohemia and effected a junction with the Austrians. They took a prominent part in the battles by which the Prussians forced the line of the Iser and in the battle of Gitchin. The crown prince, however, succeeded in effecting the retreat in good order, and in the decisive battle of Koeniggraetz (see SEVEN WEEKS' WAR) he held the extreme left of the Austrian position with great tenacity. After peace was made and Saxony had entered the North German confederation, he was placed in command of the Saxon army, which had now become the XII. Army Corps of the North German army. He was a firm adherent of the Prussian alliance.
On the outbreak of war in 1870 he again commanded the Saxons, who formed the extreme left of the German army, at Gravelotte, and with the Prussian Guard carried out the attack on St. Privat, the final and decisive action in the battle. In the march towards Paris the crown prince was given a separate com mand over the 4th army (army of the Meuse) consisting of the Saxons, the Prussian Guard corps, and the 4th (Prussian Saxony) corps. He took a leading part in the operations which preceded the battle of Sedan, the 4th army being the pivot on which the whole army wheeled round in pursuit of MacMahon; and the actions of Buzancy and Beaumont on Aug. 29 and 3o were fought under his direction ; in the battle of Sedan itself, with the troops under his orders, he carried out the envelopment of the French on the east and north. Albert had won the complete confidence of the army, and during the siege of Paris his troops formed the north-east section of the investing force. After the armistice he was left in command of the German army of occupation, a po sition which he held till the fall of the Commune.
On the conclusion of peace he was made an inspector-general of the army and field-marshal. On the death of his father on Oct. 29, 1873, he succeeded to the throne. The king devoted him self mainly to military affairs, in which his advice and experience were of the greatest value to the German army in general. In 1897 he was appointed arbitrator between the claimants for the principality of Lippe. King Albert married in 1853 Carola, daughter of Prince Gustavus of Vasa, and granddaughter of the last king of Sweden of the house of Holstein. He died June Io, 1902.