Letter from Nicholas II to Maria Fyodorovna from Stavka in Mohilev on 23 November 1916

Ts[arskaya] Stavka, 23 November 1916

My dear Mama,

I thank you with all my heart for your lovely letter, which touched me greatly. Alexis and I often recall those two days we spent with you in Kiev. It was so quiet, warm and cosy with you. [1]

Olga wrote to me in detail about her wedding and, the main thing, about her joy that you were present. Sandro also spoke a lot about that day. I hope that Olga soon returns to her hospital and you will not feel so lonely.

Alix and the daughters are here these days, which is very pleasant for me. Gen[eral] Alexeyev [2] has just gone on leave for two months. The poor man overexerted himself and fell ill with kidney trouble; the doctors decided to send him to Sebastopole, to the excellent new Romanov Institute. I was extremely sorry to part with him, but I hope that he will recover and return here. For now, his duties are being carried out by Gen[eral] Gurko [3] – a very clever and able man.

Yesterday, we saw Doct[or] Cresson [4] – wonderfully interesting, spent twenty-one months in captivity.

Goodbye for now, my dear Mama. I hug you tenderly.

God be with you.

Loving you with all his heart, your Nicky.

Footnotes

1. On 28 and 29 October 1916, Nicholas II and his son Alexis were in Kiev to mark his mother’s golden wedding anniversary.

2. General Mikhail Vasilyevich Alexeyev (1857–1918): Infantry general, aide-de-camp (1916). Commander-in-chief of the Russian army (March-May 1917).

3. General Vasily Josifovich Gurko (Romeiko-Gurko) (1864–1937): Cavalry general, full state councillor, chamberlain, member of the State Council.

4. Dr ?. ?. Cresson: French prisoner-of-war in Germany.