Prince Alexander Mikhailovich had been entrusted at…

Prince Alexander Mikhailovich had been entrusted at the start of the Russo-Turkish War with the command of an army, with which he moved on Khotyn. 

Splitting the 40th Corps, he had not dared assault the city and had withdrawn to re-supply his troops and strengthen his rearguard. 

He moves on Khotyn again in 1769 and begins to besiege it. 

The arrival of fresh Turkish and Tatar troops could bolster the besieged garrison and increase Russian casualties during the final assault, so he decides to raise the siege and leads the army from the Dnieper hoping to draw the enemy garrison out into open battle on ground favorable to him.

In the meantime Russia's Catherine II has decided to replace Golitsyn as general-in-chief with Pyotr Rumyantsev, who she hopes will act more decisively, but before Rumyantsev's arrival Golitsyn succeeds into drawing the Turkish forces onto favorable ground: under the command of Supreme Vizier Moldavanchi, they attack Golitsyn's force on August 29 and are defeated, losing up to seven thousand men, around seventy guns and all their baggage.

Golitsyn had been awarded the Order of Saint Andrew and the title of the Adjutant General on the accession of Catherine in 1762.

By becoming a member of the High Court Council, he has used the empress's influence and his diplomatic and military knowledge.