A grandson of the Emperor Leopold II, he was the eldest son of Archduke Charles of Austria, who defeated French Emperor Napoleon I at Aspern (1809), and Princess Henrietta of Nassau-Weilburg.
He was the nephew of the Emperor Francis II, and cousin to Emperor Franz Joseph's father Archduke Franz Karl of Austria, and served under Franz Joseph.
After being educated under the careful superintendence of his father, he entered the Austrian (K. K. ) army as a colonel of infantry in 1837, and was transferred to the cavalry arm in 1839, becoming a major-general in 1840.
Born in Vienna, from an early age he had a military disposition, which his father encouraged. Albrecht was subject to a mild form of epilepsy, according to report, but this did not visibly interfere with his military career.
He entered the Austrian army in 1837 with Feldmarshal Joseph Radetzky as his military governor. Having received a thorough military education, Albrecht was named a Generalmajor in 1840 and promoted to Feldmarschall-Leutnant in 1843.
He then took over the command of a brigade of all arms at Graz.
In this position he did much to maintain and improve the efficiency of the troops under his command, at a time when nearly all armies in Eurojje, with the exception of Radetzky's in Italy, had sunk to the lowest level.
The influence of Radetzky over the young archduke was indeed remarkable.
At this time the Austrian generals and staff officers had committed themselves blindly to the strategical method of the archduke Charles, the tradition of whose practical soldiership survived only in Radetzky and a few others!
Albert chose to follow the latter, and was thus saved from the pseudo-scientific pedantry which brought defeat to the Austrian arms in 1859 and in 1866.
He went at once to the seat of war in Italy, and fought under Radetzky as a volunteer throughout the campaign of 1848, being present at the action of Pastrengo and the battles of Santa Lucia and Custozza.
In the following campaign he applied for and obtained the command of a division in the II corps.
The splendid fighting of the corps at Novara was decisive of the war, and Radetzky named d'Aspre, Count Thurn, and the archduke as the general officers worthy of the greatest rewards.
The field-marshal indeed recommended, and almost insisted, that Albert should receive the much-prized order of Maria Theresa.
In this important and diffi-cult position he remained until 1860, when he was relieved at his own request.
Shortly afterwards he was appointed to succeed Radetzky as commander-in-chief in Italy, and in 1863 he Was promoted field-marshal.
In 1859 and 1864 he was sent on important military and diplomatic missions to Berlin.
When vrtir became imminent in 1866, the archduke took command of the field army in Italy.
The story of the campaign of 1866 in Italy will be found under Italian Wars (1848 - 1870); the operations of the archduke, who disposed of greatly inferior forces, were crowned with success in the brilliant victory of Custozza (June 23), and his reputation as a general-in-chief was firmly established by only eight days of field operations, though it is possible that his chief of staff, Lieutenant Field-Marshal von John, contributed not a little to the success of the Austrian arms.
The result of Custozza was the retreat and complete immobilization of the whole Italian army, so that Albert was able to despatch the greater part of his troops to reinforce the Bohemian army, when, after being defeated by the Prussians, it fell back on Vienna.
On the ioth of July 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.
In 1870 he conducted the military negotiations preparatory to an alliance with France, which, however, was not concluded.
Amongst the military works of the Archduke Albert may be named Uber die Veranlwortlichkeit im Kriege (a work which created a great sensation, and was translated into English and French), Gedanken uber dem Militdrgeist, Uber die hohere Leitung im Kriege, and Kritische Belrachtungen ilber den Feldzug 1866 in Italien.
He also was the principal editor of the military works of his father.
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.
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.
In 1844 he married Princess Hildegarde of Bavaria.
The tragic death of his daughter, Princess Mathilde, in 1867, and the death of his brother, Archduke Karl Ferdinand, in 1874, narrowed still further his family circle, and impelled him to even greater activity in his military duties, and to effective par-ticipation in the work of many military charities.
His only son died in childhood, and his nephew Archduke Frederick (born 1856) inherited his great possessions, including the Albertina, a famous collection of books, manuscripts, engravings and maps, founded by Duke Albert of Saxe-Teschen.
