In particular, his most known painting, The military parade on October 6, 1831 in Tsaritsyn Lug, Saint Petersburg incorporates portraits of a number of his famous contemporaries, including Alexander Pushkin, Vasily Zhukovsky, Ivan Krylov, and Nikolay Gnedich.
He participated in battles with the White Guards near Lugansk, Millerovo, Belaya Kalitva and Tsaritsyn (later Stalingrad, now Volgograd).
Due to the creation of the Tsaritsyn fortified line in the 18th century, the central government decided to form the Volga Cossack Host (Волгское казачье войско) consisting of 1057 families (mostly Don Cossacks) with the center in Dubovka (north of Tsaritsyn).