broke up into a series of separate skirmishes. The 2nd French corps that arrived forced the Russian troops to retreat, suffering serious losses. For distinction in the battle of Inkerman Heights Grand Duke Michael 7 November was awarded the Order of St. George, 4th Class. From 20 May 1855 to 26 August 1856, Mikhail Nikolayevich was commander of the artillery of the Guards infantry and reserve cavalry corps; from 26 August 1856 to 16 August 1857 - chief of the 2nd Light Guards Cavalry Division; from 16 August 1857 to 9 February 1860 - chief of artillery of the Independent Guards Corps; from 9 February 1860 to 6 December 1862 - chief chief of military schools of the Military Ministry. On 6 December 1862 Mikhail Nikolayevich was appointed Viceroy of His Imperial Majesty in the Caucasus and commander of the Caucasian Army. In May 1864, the Grand Duke participated in a campaign against rebellious mountaineers on the Black Sea coast of the Caucasus in the area of Adler and Sochi. His troops inflicted a series of sensitive defeats on the enemy, which marked the complete conquest of the Western Caucasus and the end of the Caucasian War. In February 1865, the august viceroy instructed the Caucasian administrators - in order to preserve for posterity as complete and detailed an account as possible of the exploits performed by units and individuals during the sixty years of uninterrupted war with the highlanders... - to do the following: All regiments and battalions (regular and Cossack) were to present the history of their life in the Caucasus and their actions against the mountaineers. Officers elected for such a mission were given privileges from duty and leave to search for archival materials. In addition, it was proposed to involve in the project and ‘...all military and other ranks of persons who will have any notes and memories that have any relation to the events of the past war...’. Already two years later the ‘Highest Initiative’ received practical fulfilment. And in 1876 in Tiflis the first volume of the ‘Caucasian Collection’ dedicated to the history of the Caucasian wars was published. All in all, in 1876-1912, the Military History Department of the Caucasian Military District Headquarters published 32 volumes of ‘KC’. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 Mikhail Nikolaevich was the commander-in-chief of the active army in the Caucasus theatre. Both successes and failures of that campaign are inextricably linked with his name. The unfavourable turn of affairs alarmed the Grand Duke; he personally arrived at the front with his chief of staff, General Obruchev, and took charge of the operations. On 27 September the Grand Duke began to prepare the army for a crushing blow to the Turkish troops. In the battle of 2 and 3 October on the Aladzhin Heights the Turkish army was completely destroyed, having lost only 15 thousand men killed. The remnants of Mukhtar Pasha's army fled to Kars and Zivin. All the artillery that the Turks had got to the Russians. October 9, 1877 Mikhail Nikolaevich was awarded the Order of St. George, 1st class ‘...for the defeat by the Caucasian troops under the personal leadership of His Highness the army of Mukhtar Pasha in a bloody battle on 3 October 1877 at Aladzhin Heights and forcing most of it to lay down arms. On the 9th of October General Lazarev's detachment approached the fortress of Kars and on the 13th started the siege works. The siege corps came under the command of M. T. Loris-Melikov. The Grand Duke left for Tiflis to fulfil his duties as governor. Meanwhile, the brilliant assault on the night of 6 November ended with the capture of Kars and effectively ended the campaign in the Caucasus. On 16 April 1878, Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich was promoted to Field Marshal-General for his distinction in the Russo-Turkish War. In 1879 the Kars and Batumi provinces were formed from the lands recaptured from Turkey. 1 (13) March 1881, about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, Michael Nikolaevich was on tea in Mikhailovsky palace in Petersburg, at Grand Duchess Ekaterina Mikhailovna where was present also his brother Emperor Alexander II who on the same day was mortally wounded at returning to the Winter Palace about 2 o'clock 25 minutes in the afternoon. Mikhail Nikolaevich arrived at the scene of the assassination attempt shortly after the second explosion (fatal to the Emperor), and gave orders and instructions at the scene. Mikhail Nikolayevich was appointed chairman of the State Council on 14 July 1881. On 23 July 1881 he was dismissed from the post of governor and commander-in-chief of the Caucasian Army. By Imperial Decree of 24 August 1905 he was appointed Honorary Chairman of the State Council. In the last years of his life he was seriously ill. He died on 5 (18) December 1909 in France. His body was transported to the Crimea and then to St Petersburg. Mikhail Nikolayevich was buried with all honours on 23 December 1909 (5 January 1910) in St. Petersburg in the Cathedral of the Holy Peter and Paul Apostles.