On the Wallachian front, Sturdza served under Michał Czajkowski, an Ottoman Cossack general and, originally, a member of the Polish revolutionary diaspora. Czajkowski hoped that that the war would continue in Bessarabia, and viewed the Moldavian Sturdza as an asset in that scenario, recommending him to serve on the Ottoman General Staff. The "Beizadea" was forced to resign soon after, for unknown reasons—Czajkowski's correspondence suggests that he was under investigation for unknown reasons: "I was summoned to give in writing where I got to know [Sturdza], who I recommended him to, how he behaved, how he was treated and everything I know about him." Sturdza himself was having "very spirited altercations" with Omar Pasha, and once prepared for a military standoff by having his own tent converted into an arsenal. This resulted in his replacement with Sefer Pasha. Sturdza was then reassigned to a section of the Danube army, under Halim Pasha. In early 1855, he was moved to the main front, seeing action at Eupatoria and finding himself advanced to the equivalent of a Brigadier General; he was also "aide-de-camp" to Omar Pasha. A lithograph by Gustav Bartsch and Johann Hesse honors his profile as a warrior, showing him (under the name "Mouhlis Pacha") standing near Sultan Abdulmejid I, who is riding a steed.