Mikhail Dmitriyevich Skobelev

Skobelev, engravingNovosti Press Agency

Mikhail Dmitriyevich Skobelev,  (born Sept. 29 [Sept. 17, Old Style], 1843, St. Petersburg, Russia—died July 7 [June 25], 1882Moscow), military officer who played prominent roles in Russia’s conquest of Turkistan and in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78.

Sent to Tashkent (in modern Uzbekistan) in 1868, Skobelev participated in General Konstantin P. Kaufmann’s successful campaign (1873) against the Khanate of Khiva in the lower Amu Darya region. Subsequently, when a rebellion in the Khanate of Kokand (1875) resulted in Kaufmann’s invasion of that region, Skobelev captured the city of Andizhan (now Andijon) in January 1876, enabling the Russians to occupy the whole khanate. The Russian government then annexed Kokand (Feb. 19, 1876), renamed it the province of Fergana, and appointed Skobelev, who had been promoted to major general, to be its first Russian governor.

When war broke out between Russia and Turkey in 1877, Skobelev was transferred to the European front. His forces defeated the Turks in several strategic battles and finally captured Edirne (Adrianople) and San Stefano, thus forcing the Turks to conclude an armistice (Jan. 31, 1878). Because he always appeared in the midst of battle wearing a white uniform and riding a white horse, Skobelev became known by his soldiers as the “White General.”

Skobelev returned to Turkistan and in 1880 took command of the Russian campaign against the Turkmens living between the Caspian and Aral seas and the Persian province of Khorāsān. On Jan. 24, 1881, Skobelev captured Göktepe (now Gökdepe), where he slaughtered the male population in the vicinity. He then forced the region into submission and was proceeding against Ashkhabad (now Ashgabat) when he was recalled and given command of the Minsk Army Corps.

At the beginning of 1882 Skobelev entered the political arena, making speeches in Paris and Moscow in favour of militant pan-Slavism and predicting an inevitable conflict between the German and Slav peoples. Those views, however, clashed with the official policy of the Russian government, which in 1881 had concluded an alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary. Skobelev therefore was immediately recalled to St. Petersburg, where he suffered a fatal heart ailment.