Mikhail Dmitrievich Skobelev ( – ) 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.