 He was promoted to the substantive rank of major-general on 26 October 1858.Michel became Commander of the 1st Division and fought at the Battle of Taku Forts in August 1860 during the Second Opium War.He took part in the burning of the Old Summer Palace at Peking in October 1860 as a reprisal for the torture and murder of British prisoners before being appointed Commander of British Troops in China and Hong Kong in 1861.