[2] Two years later, he reorganized the lithography department at the Admiralty, for which he was awarded the Order of Saint Vladimir, and began writing a history of the fleet.

Since 1824, he had been a member of the "Northern Society [ru]", a secret organization headed by Kondraty Ryleyev, and had written a "Manifesto to the Russian People".

Following the Decembrist riot on Peter's Square, during which he led a unit of rebellious Naval Equipage of the Guard, he went into hiding but was found and arrested.

Shortly after, Nikolay Bestuzhev entered into a common-law marriage and fathered two children, one of whom, Alexey Startsev (1838-1900), became a major figure in the commercial trade between Russia and China.

Despite the harsh conditions, Bestuzhev painted numerous portraits of his fellow Decembrists, the family members who had followed them to Siberia and local villagers; at first in watercolors, later in oils.

He also made meteorological and astronomical observations, created an irrigation system, bred sheep, found a new coal-deposit and collected Buryat folk-tales.

The 1990 feature-length film, Нет чужой земли [ru] (No Foreign Land) is based on the Bestuzhevs' life in Siberia.