Mikhail Skobelev
| Mikhail Dmitrievich Skobelev | |
|---|---|
Mikhail Skobelev
|
|
| Nickname(s) | White General White Pasha Bloody Eyes |
| Born |
29 September 1843 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire |
| Died | 7 July 1882 (aged 38) Moscow, Russian Empire |
| Allegiance |
 Russian Empire
|
| Service/branch | Imperial Russian Army |
| Years of service | 1861–1882 |
| Rank | General of the Infantry |
| Battles/wars |
January Uprising Russo-Turkish War |
| Awards |
Order of St. George Order of St. Vladimir Order of Saint Anna |
Mikhail Dmitrievich Skobelev (Russian: Михаи́л Дми́триевич Ско́белев) (29 September [O.S. 17 September] 1843 – 7 July [O.S. 25 June] 1882) was a Russian general famous for his conquest of Central Asia and heroism during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. Dressed in white uniform and mounted on a white horse, and always in the thickest of the fray, he was known and adored by his soldiers as the "White General" (and by the Turks as the "White Pasha"). During a campaign in Khiva, his Turkmen opponents called him goz zanli or "Bloody Eyes". British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery wrote that Skobelev was the world's "ablest single commander" between 1870 and 1914 and called him a "skilful and inspiring" leader.
Skobelev was born in Saint Petersburg on 29 September 1843. After graduating from the General Staff Academy as a staff officer, he was sent to Turkestan in 1868 and, with the exception of an interval of two years, during which he was on the staff of the grand duke Michael in the Caucasus, remained in Central Asia until 1877.
During the Khivan campaign of 1873 he commanded the advanced guard of General Lomakin's column from Kinderly Bay, in the Caspian Sea, to join General Verevkin, from Orenburg, in the expedition to the Khanate of Khiva, and, after great suffering on the desert march, took a prominent part in the capture of the Khivan capital. Later, dressed as a Turkoman, he intrepidly explored in a hostile country the route from Khiva to Igdy on the old riverbed of the Oxus. In 1875 he was given an important command in the expedition against the Khanate of Kokand under General Konstantin Petrovich von Kaufman, showing great capacity in the action of Makram, where he outmanoeuvered a greatly superior force and captured 58 guns, and in a brilliant night attack during the retreat from Andijan, when he routed a large force with a handful of cavalry.
...
Wikipedia