On 17 February 1781, Gustav was born the fourth son of Frederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg and his wife, Landgravine Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt.

The prince saw action in the early 19th-century battles of Nördlingen, Hohenlinden, Ratisbon, Aspern-Essling, Wagram, Dresden, and Leipzig.

His sister-in-law, Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, later wrote that Gustav "gained as much fame and glory on the battlefield as any of his brothers.

[1] In reaction to a petition put forth by his people, in 1848 Gustav emancipated Homburg's Jews, decreeing that "in local and state affairs no difference shall henceforth be made between our Christian and our Jewish subjects.

[9] Due to an illness, his only son predeceased him; as a result, when Gustav died on 8 September 1848,[2] he was succeeded by his brother Ferdinand.