According to
Peter Kenez, May-Mayevsky was a complex figure. He lived a dissolute life and his orgies brought ill-repute to the cause which he served. In territories under his control, terror and lawlessness reigned. His soldiers called him
Kutuzov not because of his style of leadership but because of his appearance: he was fat and flabby and wore a pince-nez. He did not at all look like a soldier. Nevertheless, he was one of the ablest White military leaders." On 23 May 1919, May-Mayevsky as the was appointed as the commander of the Volunteer Army after his division drove the
Red Army from the city of
Kharkov. His forces moved on to secure
Kiev,
Orel and
Voronezh. However, his forces were thus overextended, and after suffering a number of defeats, problems with his alcoholism increased. May-Maevsky was blamed for the military retreats from
Tula and Orel and accused of "moral decay". On 27 November 1919, General
Anton Denikin replaced him with General
Pyotr Wrangel, an effective general without the moral weaknesses of May-Mayevsky. In 1920, he led rearguard units in the final defence of the
Crimea. Accounts differ on his end. According to one version, he shot himself during the evacuation of the White Army from Sevastopol on 12 November 1920. According to another, he died of
heart failure in one of the hospitals in Sevastopol or while traveling by car to the ship for evacuation. ==Distinctions==