Duke Alexander of Württemberg (1771–1833)


Duke Alexander of Württemberg was a Duke of Württemberg. The son of Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg and of Sophia Dorothea of Brandenburg-Schwedt. His sister Sophie Dorothea married Tsar Paul I of Russia.

Family

In 1798 he married Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. They had five children:
Alexander of Württemberg was the founder of the fifth branch of the House of Württemberg, as the seventh son of Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg. On the extinction of the eldest branch in 1921, the ducal branch became the new dynastic-branch of the House. .
Alexander of Württemberg is the direct ancestor of the present claimant to the dukedom of Württemberg, Carl.
Ernest's descendant, a German therapist named Karin Vogel, was last in line of succession to the British Throne as of 2001.

Military service

Austria

Alexander began service in the Württemberg army as a colonel on 21 April 1791, and transferred to the Austrian army, serving during the campaign against France in 1796-1799, and participating in the battles of Rastadt, Würtzburg, Offenbach, Stockach and Zurich. In 1796 Prince Alexander became a Major General and a Fieldmarshal Lieutenant in the Austrian army in 1798.

Russia

In that year he met Alexander Suvorov, and took up his recommendation to join the Imperial Russian Army as a Lieutenant General and chief of the Riga Cuirassier Regiment which in August 1800 was reorganised into Riga Dragoon Regiment while Alexander was promoted to General of Cavalry. In 1811 he was appointed Military Governor of Belorussia.
During the 1812 Campaign Württemberg served at the Headquarters of the 1st Western Army and fought at Vitebsk, Smolensk, Borodino, Tarutino, Maloyaroslavets, Vyazma and Krasnoi. In 1813 he commanded the Siege of Danzig for which he was awarded a golden sword and the Order of St. George. After the war he returned to Belorussia and his Riga Regiment.
In 1822 he became the Head of the Communications Department and initiated several large-scale waterway projects in western Russia. In 1826 Württemberg was appointed chief of Ekaterinoslav Cuirassier Regiment, and a member of the State Council, but returned to the Riga Dragoons in 1827. In 1832 he resigned from military service and left Russia on 24 November, never to return.

Awards and decorations