He served in various capacities in both the Swedish and Finnish armies, participating in the Invasion of Åland in 1918 and commanding the Archipelago Free Corps.

Ehrensvärd faced challenges within the military hierarchy, notably the "Meyerhöffer affair" in 1947, where a proposal to appoint a pro-German officer led to opposition.

He became the Queen's Page of Honour in 25 August 1912 and a cadet at the Royal Military Academy on 25 October the same year.

[5] He took part in the Invasion of Åland as adjutant of the commanding officer of Åland Detachment in 1918 and resigned from the Swedish Army the same year and joined the Finnish Army where he commanded the Archipelago Free Corps (Skärgårdens frikår)[6] and took part in battles in Åboland archipelago and southwestern Finland[5] (Korpogård 28 March, Lohm 4 April and Loimaa 22 April[4]).

[8] Ehrensvärd was lieutenant colonel and Chief of Staff of the Swedish Volunteer Corps during the Winter War in Finland in 1940.

[6] He was head of the Royal Swedish Army Staff College from 1940 to 1941 and commanding officer of South Scanian Infantry Regiment (I 7) from 1941 to 1942.

Following threats of resignation from Ehrensvärd's cousin and Chief of the Army, Lieutenant General Archibald Douglas, Meyerhöffer was finally appointed cavalry and infantry inspector in 1949.

[3] The far more Western-friendly Ehrensvärd had been appointed Chief of the Army in 1948 which led Meyerhöffer into conflict with his new commanding officer and he therefore lodged his resignation in 1951.

Ahnfeldt had been Sven Olov Lindholm's closest man for six years and had at the age of 27 candidated for the National League of Sweden after Meyerhöffer at the municipal elections in Östersund.

[1] In the early 1960s, the secret documents from Operation Stella Polaris in 1944, were brought from Hörningsholm Castle and Rottneros Manor and burnt on the instruction of the then Director-General of the National Defence Radio Establishment, Gustaf Tham, and the now retired General Ehrensvärd.

[11] Ehrensvärd married the first time on 24 July 1922 in Lützow, in Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Germany to Countess Gisela Dorothée Anna-Luise Marianne Lilla von Bassewitz (20 December 1895 – 1946),[1][4] the daughter of count Adolf Carl Otto Alexander Bassewitz-Behr and Dorothée Louise Helene Wanda Ebba Krell.