He entered the third Uhlan regiment in 1810. He served in the War of the Sixth Coalition (1813–1814). In 1834 he was promoted to the rank of major. After 32 years of military service, in 1842 he was assigned the rank of Feldmarschallleutnant. Lamberg's death marked a turning point in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, as the Imperial Court in Vienna decided to dissolve the Hungarian Parliament and send in the troops of Josip Jelačić into Hungary.