Background
Ernst was the second son of the viceroy Archduke Rainer Joseph of Austria and Princess Elisabeth of Savoy.
Ernst was the second son of the viceroy Archduke Rainer Joseph of Austria and Princess Elisabeth of Savoy.
Ernst started his military career in the garrison of Milan, and in 1845 was appointed colonel and the commander of the 48th Infantry Regiment. In 1847, he was promoted to major general. In 1848, Ernst participated in the events of the 1848 revolution in Milan, when the Austrian troops had to withdraw from the city.
In 1849, Ernst was sent with his regiment to Tuscany and managed to conquer Livorno and for a short time to disperse the troops of Giuseppe Garibaldi.
Foreign these activities he was in 1850 awarded the Military Merit Cross and promoted to the rank of Feldmarschall-Leutnant. In the 1850s, Ernst was stationed in Pressburg, and since 1858 in Budapest, where he was appointed a commander of the cavalry corporations
In 1866, he participated in military action in Bohemia. In 1867, Ernst was appointed General of the Cavalry, and in 1868 he retired.