He belonged to the aristocratic Kaltenborn-Stachau family, and was raised in the cadet corps, before joining the 27th Infantry Regiment as a
second lieutenant in 1854. From 1857 to 1860 he attended the
Allgemeine Kriegsschule (the "General War College", which later became the
Prussian Military Academy) and in 1861 was assigned for 3 years to the
Topographical Department of the
Great General Staff. Kaltenborn-Stachau participated in the
Second Schleswig War in 1864 and in December was transferred to the general staff of the
VI Army Corps. In this position he served in the
Austro-Prussian War in 1866, after being promoted to
captain in 1865. In 1868 he became a company commander in the 94th Regiment, and in 1869 a general staff officer in the
VII Army Corps. After being promoted to
major, he then served in the
Franco-Prussian War in 1870–71. In 1874 he became commander of a battalion in the
Grenadierregiment Nr. 2, and was made a
colonel in 1878. After commanding the 53rd Infantry Regiment, he took over the
Kaiser-Alexander-Gardegrenadierregiment, and in 1884 became Chief of Staff of the
Guards Corps, and a
major general. In November 1885 he became commander of the
2nd Guards Infantry Brigade and in January 1888 was given command of the 3rd Division. In July of that year he was made commander of the
2nd Guards Infantry Division and was simultaneously promoted to
lieutenant general. His appointment as
Prussian Minister of War occurred on 4 October 1890. In 1893, under his leadership a plan was enacted whereby the army was expanded by 70,000 men, and the length of service was increased to two years. Kaltenborn-Stachau resigned from his office on 12 October 1893. ==Honours and awards==