Louis Frederick was the younger son of Duke Ernst Friedrich I of Saxe-Hildburghausen and his wife Countess Sophia Albertine of Erbach-Erbach.

In 1741, he left the imperial service and joined the Bavarian army, where he played a role in the War of the Austrian Succession.

Emperor Charles VII gave him the infantry regiment Holnstein and in 1743 promoted him to General Field Marshal.

He married on 4 May 1749 in Weikersheim Christiane Louise (1713–1778), daughter of Duke Joachim Frederick Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön and widow of Count Louis Albert of Hohenlohe-Weikersheim.

Through financial contributions of the house of Hohenlohe, the prince managed to complete an expensive restoration of Hellingen manor.