Charles fought against Napoleon at the Battle of Hanau in 1813, became a general of division, and took part in the Campaign of 1814. His differences with Prince Wrede led to his retirement from 1822 till some time after the latter's death in 1838, when his brother King Ludwig I of Bavaria appointed him field marshal and general inspector of the army. In the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, he was commander-in-chief of the 7th and 8th corps of the Bavarian Army, being allied with Austria. His troops, some 52,000 men, served in the Main Campaign.[2] Afterwards he retired from public service.[1]
He married, morganatically, on 1 October 1823 with Marie-Anne-Sophie Petin (27 July 1796, Neuburg – 22 February 1838, Munich), who was created Baroness von Bayrstorff upon their marriage.[3] She was a daughter of Franz Moritz Petin, Captain in the Bavarian Army, and Baroness Maria Theodora von Branca. Before her death at Tegernsee in 1838, they were the parents of three daughters:[4]
Caroline Sophie von Bayrstorff (17 October 1816 – 25 May 1889), who married Adolf, Baron von Gumppenberg (1804–1877) in 1834.[5]
Maximiliane Theodore von Bayrstorff (30 September 1823 – 19 March 1885), who married August, Count von Drechsel zu Deufstetten (1810–1880), in 1841.[5]
Franziska Sophie von Bayrstorff (10 October 1827 – 2 March 1912), who married Portuguese-Brazilian nobleman Paulo Martins, Viscount d'Almeida (1807–1874) in 1845.[5]
Prince Karl fell from his horse while riding at Tegernsee in Bavaria on 16 August 1875 and was killed instantly.[6]
^Liste der Ritter des Königlich Preußischen Hohen Ordens vom Schwarzen Adler (1851), "Von Seiner Majestät dem Könige Friedrich Wilhelm III. ernannte Ritter" p. 18
^ abAlmanach de la cour: pour l'année ... 1817. l'Académie Imp. des Sciences. 1817. pp. 78, 142.
^Staatshandbuch für den Freistaat Sachsen: 1873. Heinrich. 1873. pp. 3, 33.
Louda, Jirí; MacLagan, Michael (1999). Lines of Succession: Heraldry of the Royal Families of Europe (2nd ed.). London: Little, Brown and Company. table 97.