After the Plague Riot in 1771, Mikhail Volkonsky was appointed Commander-in-Chief to Moscow. In 1773–1774, during the Pugachev's Rebellion, at the request of Volkonsky, significant military forces were pulled into Moscow (horse riders traveled to Lyubertsy), guns were put up at the governor's residence. In 1774, Volkonsky was one of the leaders of the general investigation of Yemelyan Pugachev and his main associates. In 1775 he organized in Moscow the famous amusements regarding the conclusion of peace with Turkey.