Mikhail Dmitrievich Skobelev (29 September [O.S.

17 September] 1843 – 7 July [O.S.

25 June] 1882) is a Russian general famous for his conquest of Central Asia and heroism during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78.

Dressed in white uniform and mounted on a white horse, and always in the thickest of the fray, he is 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 call him goz zanli or "Bloody Eyes".

British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery will write that Skobelev was the world's "ablest single commander" between 1870 and 1914 and call him a "skilful and inspiring" leader.