Early life Alvensleben was born in
Eichenbarleben in 1803, to the Low German noble family of Alvensleben. His parents were Gebhard Johann von Alvensleben (1773–1856), a
Lieutenant-Colonel in the Royal Prussian Army, and his kinswoman Caroline Friederike Eleonore von Alvensleben (1773–1826). Gustav had four brothers; two of them, Werner and Constantin, would go on to serve in the military as generals.
Military career Alvensleben joined the
Prussian Army in 1821, serving in the
Kaiser Alexander Guards Grenadiers Regiment No. 1 as a
Second Lieutenant. In 1849, Alvensleben became Chief of Staff of the Prussian Corps in the
insurrection in
Baden and, in 1850, Chief of Staff of the
VIII Army Corps. He went on to become the military governor of the Prussian
Rhine Province and
Westphalia in 1854, became a major-general in 1858, and the personal adjutant of
King William I of Prussia in 1861. In this position he signed the
Alvensleben Convention with Russia to co-ordinate Russian and Prussian politics throughout the Polish
January Uprising. Having served in the Royal headquarters in the
Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Alvensleben led the peace negotiations with
George V of Hanover. On 30 October 1866 he took over the command of the
IV Corps. In 1868 Alvensleben was promoted to
General der Infanterie and commanded the IV Corps in the Battles of
Beaumont and
Sedan during the
Franco-Prussian War. Alvensleben retired on 10 October 1872, and died unmarried and childless on 30 June 1881 in
Gernrode, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. ==Honours and awards==