Prince Ferdinand Georg August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was a prince of the house of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and a general of cavalry in the Austrian Imperial and Royal Army during the Napoleonic Wars.
Background
Ferdinand was born at Coburg as Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the second son of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and of his wife, Countess Augusta Reuss-Ebersdorf. In 1826 his title changed from prince of Saxe-Coburg and Saalfeld to prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha when his brother Duke Ernst I made a territorial exchange with other members of the family.
Ferdinand"s nephews and nieces included Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her husband Prince Albert, as well as Empress Carlota of Mexico, and her brother King Leopold II of Belgium.
Career
On 10 December 1791 Ferdinand was commissioned as Unterleutnant in the Dragoon-Regiment Coburg Near 6. He was promoted to Oberleutnant on 1 March 1796 and to Second-Rittmeister on 18 November 1798. On 1 February 1802 he transferred to the Austrian Army serving in the Chevauxleger-Regiment Fürst Rosenberg in which he was promoted to Major on 29 September 1804.
On 1 January 1805 he transferred to the Husaren-Regiment Graf Blankenstein Near
6 in which he was promoted to Oberstleutnant on 6 August 1805. On 15 September 1808 Ferdinand became Oberst in the Husaren-Regiment Erzherzog Ferdinand d"Este Near
3. lieutenant was in this regiment that he served in the War of the Fifth Coalition under Field Marshal Prince Hohenzollern.
He received the knight"s cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa. Before the Battle of Wagram he was named General of the Kavallerie Fürst Liechtenstein.
On 15 April 1811 he was named Generalmajor. During the War of the Sixth Coalition Ferdinand fought at the Battle of Kulm.
In 1813 he fought at the Battle of Leipzig.
In 1814 he received the commander"s cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa. On 8 May 1822 Ferdinand became Inhaber (proprietor) of the Uhlanen-Regiment Fürst Karl Schwarzenberg. On 22 November 1828 he became Inhaber of the Husaren-Regiment Near
8.
Shortly thereafter he was promoted to the rank of General der Kavallerie. Ferdinand died at Vienna on 27 August 1851 at the age of 66. He is buried in the Mausoleum auf dem Glockenberg in Coburg.