Mikhail Chernyayev

Mikhail Grigorievich Chernyayev (Russian: Михаил Григорьевич Черняев) (24 October 1828, Tubyshki, Mogilev Governorate – 16 August 1898) was a Russian general, who, together with Konstantin Kaufman and Mikhail Skobelev, led the Russian conquest of Central Asia under Alexander II.

A member of a noble family, he was educated at the Nicholas Staff College, entered the army in 1847, and distinguished himself in the Crimean War and in the Caucasus. After serving as divisional Chief of Staff in Poland, he went to Orenburg in 1858 as assistant to the commander of the line of the Syr-Darya, and the following year commanded an expedition to support the Kazakh tribes on the borders of the Aral Sea against the Khanate of Khiva. He did duty on the staff of the Army of the Caucasus for a time, and returned to Orenburg as Chief of Staff.

In 1864, having reached the rank of Major-General, Chernyayev made his famous march with 1000 men across the steppes of Turkestan to Chimkent (Shymkent) in the Khanate of Kokand, to meet another Russian column from Semipalatinsk (Semey), in Siberia, in conjunction with which he successfully stormed Chimkent, and then unsuccessfully attacked Tashkent, 130 km farther south. Wintering at Chimkent, he captured Tashkent the following year. This was contrary to his instructions, and although he was received in St. Petersburg with enthusiasm, and presented with a sword of honor by the emperor, he was not again employed in the military service, and retired from it in July 1874.

...
Wikipedia