How and why did Duke William form his forces ?
By 1826 the remaining Ernestine duchies were the Grand Duchy of Saxe - Weimar - Eisenach ( approximately three eights of all the Ernestine lands ) , and the ( " Elisabeth - Sophie - line " ) duchies of Saxe - Gotha - Altenburg , Saxe - Meiningen , Saxe - Hildburghausen and Saxe - Coburg - Saalfeld .