[1][2] Wrangel was educated in the Culm and Berlin cadet houses and entered military service on 13 August 1830, as a second lieutenant in the 1st Foot Guards.

In December 1841, Wrangel had to leave the service because of duelling and after he had healed from the serious wound he received, he was reinstated in March 1843 by the future Kaiser Wilhelm I.

When they gave way to the advancing Danes, Wrangel brought them to a halt by snatching the drum from a drummer and began playing the double-quick pace.

[2] When Prussia recalled its officers in April 1850, Wrangel became head of the Topographical Department and only returned to frontline service as a lieutenant colonel during the mobilization of 1859.

[2] In recognition of his many years of service, Wilhelm I awarded him the Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle with Oak Leaves and Swords on 16 September 1881.

Wrangel had married Elisabeth Adelheid Ernestine von Strantz (25 September 1813 in Berlin – 27 February 1891 in Sproitz ) on 26 March 1843.