Mikhail Dmitriyevich Skobelev (; 29 September 1843 – 7 July 1882), a Russian general, became famous for his conquest of Central Asia and for his heroism during the  Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878. Dressed in a 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 ganly or "Bloody Eyes".

British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery assessed Skobelev as the world's "ablest single commander" between 1870 and 1914 and wrote of his "skilful and inspiring" leadership. Francis Vinton Greene also rated Skobelev highly.

Early life and conquest of Khiva
Skobelev was born in Saint Petersburg on 29 September 1843. His mother was Russian philanthropist Olga Skobeleva, and his father was Russian general Dmitry Ivanovich Skobelev. 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 advance 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 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 Kaufmann, showing great capacity in the action of Makram, where he outmanoeuvered a greatly superior force and captured 58 guns, and in a night attack during the retreat from Andijan, routed a large force with a handful of cavalry.

Later life, the Battle of Pleven, Geok Tepe and death

He was promoted to major-general, decorated with the Order of St George, and appointed the first governor of the Ferghana Oblast. In the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), he crossed the Danube with the 8th Corps. Skobelev commanded the Caucasian Cossack Brigade in the attack of the Green Hills at the second battle of Pleven. An infantry division under Skobelev's command assailed the Grivitsa redoubt to the north. Schakofsky managed to take two redoubts, but by the end of the day the Ottoman forces succeeded in repulsing all the attacks and retaking lost ground. Russian losses amounted to 7,300, and the Ottomans' to 2,000.

At the capture of Lovetch on 3 September, the general distinguished himself again in desperate fighting on the Green Hills during the third battle of Pleven in which Skobelev took two southern redoubts. The Romanian 4th division, led by General George Manu, took the Grivitsa redoubt after four bloody assaults, personally assisted by Prince Carol. The next day the Turks retook the southern redoubts, but could not dislodge the Romanians, who repelled three counterattacks. From the beginning of September, Russian losses had amounted to roughly 20,000, while the Ottomans lost 5,000.

Promoted to lieutenant-general and given the command of the 16th Division, he took part in the investment of Pleven and also in the fight of 9 December, when Osman Pasha surrendered, with his army. In January 1878 he crossed the Balkans in a severe snowstorm, defeating the Turks at Sheynovo, near Shipka and capturing 36,000 men and 90 guns.

Skobelev returned to Turkestan after the war, and in 1880 and 1881 further distinguished himself by retrieving the disasters inflicted by the Tekke Turkomans: following the Siege of Geoktepe, it was stormed, the general captured the fort. Around 8,000 Turkmen soldiers and civilians, including women and children were slaughtered in a bloodbath in their flight, along with an additional 6,500 who died inside the fortress. The Russians' massacre included all Turkmen males in the fortress who had not escaped, but they spared some 5,000 women and children and freed 600 Persian slaves. The defeat at Geok Tepe and the following slaughter broke the Turkmen resistance and decided the fate of Transcaspia, which was annexed to the Russian Empire. The great slaughter cowed the Akhal-Tekke country into submission. Skobelev was removed from his command because of the massacre. He was advancing on Ashkhabad and Kalat i-Nadiri when he was disavowed and recalled to Moscow. He was given the command at Minsk. The official reason for his transfer to Europe was to appease European public opinion over the slaughter at Geok Tepe. Some have suggested that he was suffering from delusions of grandeur and showing signs of political ambition.

In the last years of his life, Skobelev engaged actively in politics, supporting the ideas of Russian nationalism and militant Pan-Slavism. He has also been credited as one of the earliest promoters of the concept "Russia for Russians". At the beginning of 1882, he made speeches in Paris and in Moscow, predicting desperate strife between Slavs and Germans. He was at once recalled to St Petersburg. 

He was staying at the Hôtel Dusseaux in Moscow and on his way to his estate in the country when he died suddenly of a heart attack on 7 July 1882. In Russia he was a very popular man at the time of his death, and not surprisingly, his death aroused suspicion among many. After all, he was a relatively young (38) and vigorous man. Skobelev's early death deprived Russia of a great military leader. This became especially evident during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. The Russian generals commanding in that war were men of Skobelev's generation, but none of them had his military genius or charisma.

Legacy 
After Skobelev's death, in Moscow a monument was raised in his honour on a major square on Tverskaya Street (across from the city hall, where today stands the statue of Yuri Dolgorukiy, the founder of Moscow), which was given his name, and the town of Fergana in Uzbekistan was renamed Skobelev.

Today, his name still lives, even beyond the Russian Federation: shortly after the end of the Turkish War of 1877, the Bulgarians constructed a park in Pleven, Skobelev Park, on one of the hills where the major battles for the city took place.  The park is also a location of the Panorama Pleven's Epopee 1877 memorial, where in one of the scenes of the gigantic 360 degree panoramic painting the White General is displayed charging with his horse and bare sword, leading the infantry Russian attack on the Turkish positions. A central boulevard in Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria, also bears Mikhail Dmitriyevich Skobelev's name.

Shortly after the entrance of the park, the bust of the famous general can be seen, watching over the city.  The park contains memorials with the names of the Russian and Romanian soldiers that died for the liberation of Pleven, and is decorated with non-functional arms donated by Russia: cannons, cannonballs, gatling guns, rifles, and bayonets.

In the 1955 Soviet-Bulgarian war epic Heroes of Shipka Skobelev, played by Yevgeny Samoylov, is portrayed as one of the films main heroes.

Honours and awards

Russian
 Order of St. Stanislaus, 1st class with swords
 Order of St. Anna. 1st and 4th classes
 Order of St. George, 2nd, 3rd and 4th classes
 Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class with swords
 Gold Sword for Bravery
 Gold Sword for Bravery with diamonds
 Gold Sword for Bravery with diamonds for the transition of the Balkans

Foreign
 Order of the Red Eagle, 1st and 2nd class with swords (Prussia)
 Pour le Mérite (Prussia)
 Grand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Takovo (Serbia)
 Order of the Cross of Takovo with swords (Serbia)
 Serbian Gold Medal for bravery;
 Montenegrin Medal
 Romanian Medal for military valour

Notes

References
 

1843 births
1882 deaths
Military personnel from Saint Petersburg
People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd
Imperial Russian Army generals
Russian nationalists
Great Game
Russian people of the January Uprising
Russian military personnel of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)
Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 1st class
Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd class
Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Second Degree
Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree
Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class
Recipients of the Medal for Bravery (Serbia)
Recipients of the Gold Sword for Bravery
Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class)
Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Takovo
미하일 드미트리예비치 스코벨레프(, 1843년 9월 29일 ~ 1882년 7월 7일)는 러시아 제국의 장군이다. 1877년부터 1878년 사이에 일어난 러시아-튀르크 전쟁에서 공적을 세웠고 러시아 제국이 중앙아시아를 정복하는 계기를 마련했다.

스코벨레프는 하얀 군복을 입고 하얀 말을 타녔기 때문에 항상 가장 치열한 싸움에서 병사들로부터 "하얀 장군"(오스만 제국에서는 "하얀 파샤"라고 불렀음)으로 불리면서 숭배의 대상이 되었다. 히바에서 군사 작전을 지휘하던 동안에 투르크멘인들에게는 "피의 눈"이라고 불렀다. 2차례의 세계 대전에 참전했던 영국의 육군 원수인 버나드 몽고메리는 스코벨레프를 1870년부터 1914년 사이에 활동한 세계에서 가장 뛰어난 단일 지휘관이라고 평가했고 그의 "기술적이고 고무적인" 지도력에 대한 글을 집필했다.

생애 
스코벨레프는 1843년 9월 29일에 러시아 상트페테르부르크에서 태어났다. 그의 어머니는 러시아의 자선 사업가인 올가 스코벨레바였고 그의 아버지는 러시아 제국의 장군인 드미트리 이바노비치 스코벨레프였다. 스코벨레프는 1861년에 상트페테르부르크 대학교에 입학했으나 학생 봉기로 인하여 폐쇄되면서 육군 기병부대에서 복무하게 된다. 1864년에는 폴란드에서 일어난 1월 봉기 진압 과정에서 그로드노 근위경기병연대에 합류했다.

스코벨레프는 1866년에 니콜라이 군사 참모 아카데미에 입학했고 졸업과 함께 참모 장교로 임관되었다. 1868년에는 투르키스탄 군관구로 파견되어 타슈켄트, 부하라 등지에서 정보 수집·정찰 활동에 참여했다. 스코벨레프는 1870년에 캅카스 군관구 지휘관으로 파견되었고 1871년 3월에는 크라스노보츠크(현재의 투르크메니스탄 투르크멘바시)에서 기병대 지휘를 맡았다.

스코벨레프는 1873년에 일어난 히바 전역에서 니콜라이 로마킨이 이끌던 군대의 전위대 역할을 맡았는데 오렌부르크에서 니콜라이 베룝킨이 이끌던 군대와 합류했다. 스코벨레프는 사막으로 진군하던 과정에서 어려움을 겪었지만 히바 칸국 각지를 정찰하는 임무를 수행했고 러시아 제국 군대가 히바 칸국을 정복하는 데에 큰 역할을 했다. 스코벨레프는 1873년 8월 30일에 4등 스뱌토고게오르기 훈장을 받았고 1874년 2월 22일에는 육군 대령으로 승진했다.

스코벨레프는 1875년부터 1876년 사이에 일어난 콘스탄틴 폰 카우프만 장군과 함께 코칸트 칸국 원정에 나서면서 후잔트, 나망간, 안디잔을 차례대로 점령했다. 특히 마흐람 전투, 압두라흐만 압토바치의 반란 진압을 통해 러시아 제국이 코칸트 칸국을 정복하는 데에 큰 역할을 했다. 스코벨레프는 1876년에 3급 스뱌토고블라디미르 훈장과 검, 3등 스뱌토고게오르기 훈장을 받았고 같은 해에 페르가나주 총독으로 임명되었다. 스코벨레프는 페르가나에 새로운 도시를 건설하려는 계획을 주도하기도 했다.

스코벨레프는 1877년부터 1878년 사이에 일어난 러시아-튀르크 전쟁에서 자원 입대했고 1877년에 1급 스뱌토고스타니스와프 훈장 및 검을 받았다. 스코블레프는 하얀 제복과 하얀 모자를 쓰고 적군의 표적이 되기 쉬웠던 하얀 말을 탔기 때문에 군인들 사이에서 "하얀 장군"이라고 불렸다. 스코베레프 휘하의 러시아 제국 군대는 캅카스에 주둔하고 있던 코사크 여단과 함께 발칸반도 겨울 원정에 나섰고 불가리아 로베치·플레벤 전투에서 오스만 제국 군대를 격파하는 공적을 세웠다. 스코벨레프는 1879년에 육군 중장으로 승진하면서 1급 스뱌토고안나 훈장을 받게 된다.

스코벨레프는 1880년부터 1881년 사이에 아시가바트 근교에서 일어난 괴크테페 전투에서 테케 투르크멘인 군단을 격파하면서 러시아 제국이 투르크메니스탄을 정복하는 계기를 마련했다. 또한 1881년에 러시아 제국 육군 장성으로 승진하면서 2등 스뱌토고게오르기 훈장을 받는 영예를 안게 된다. 스코벨레프는 생전에 러시아 민족주의, 범슬라브주의를 지지했는데 특히 1882년 초반에 프랑스 파리, 러시아 모스크바에서 가진 연설에서 장래에 슬라브족과 게르만족 사이의 전쟁이 일어날 가능성을 예견하기도 했다.

스코벨레프는 1882년 7월 7일에 러시아 모스크바에 위치한 호텔에서 심장마비로 갑작스럽게 사망했는데 그의 사망에 대해 많은 의혹이 제기되었다. 1912년에는 모스크바 트베르스카야 광장에 스코벨레프 장군 기념비가 건립되었으나 러시아 내전이 진행 중이던 1918년에 볼셰비키에 의해 철거되었다. 그러나 2014년에 러시아 군사역사학회에 의해 모스크바 니쿨리노 공원에 스코벨레프 장군 기념비가 재건되었다.

훈장 
러시아 제국
 1급 스뱌토고스타니스와프 훈장 및 검
 1·4급 스뱌토고안나 훈장
 2·3·4등 스뱌토고게오르기 훈장
 3급 스뱌토고블라디미르 훈장 및 검
 용기의 금검
 다이아몬드가 장착된 용기의 금검

외국
 프로이센 왕국 1·2급 적수리 훈장 및 검
 프로이센 왕국 푸르 르 메리트 군사훈장
 세르비아 왕국 타코보 십자 훈장 및 검
 세르비아 왕국 용맹 훈장

1843년 출생
1882년 사망
러시아 제국 육군 장성
러시아의 러시아-튀르크 전쟁 (1877년-1878년) 참전 군인
그레이트 게임
러시아 국민주의자
1급 스뱌토고스타니스와프 훈장 수훈자
3급 스뱌토고블라디미르 훈장 수훈자
2등 스뱌토고게오르기 훈장 수훈자
3등 스뱌토고게오르기 훈장 수훈자
1급 스뱌토고안나 훈장 수훈자
적수리 훈장 수훈자
푸르 르 메리트 군사훈장 수훈자