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Posts:
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Aug 12, 2004 1:27 PM
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Mikhail Skobeleff (1843-1882) was a Russian officer whose grandfather had been a serf, but whose father was an army officer.
He fought against the Polish revolutionaries in 1868, served in the conquest of Khiva and Khokand between 1871 and 1875, winning the coveted Cross of St. George the Martyr. As a major general in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 he served at Plevna, Sheinovo, Loftcha, Shipka Pass and Adrianople. In 1875, during a campaign in Turkistan, he scouted enemy lines by himself dressed as a Turkoman. Before battle, Skobelev would don his white uniform that earned him undying devotion of his green-clad soldiers. He wore it to keep himself visible to his men and to let them know he shared the dangers of battle with them. He was in command of an army that attacked the Tekke-Turkomans at Geok Tepe. His success there allowed the eventual construction of a strategic railroad that the British would soon regard as a threat to India.
He favored Pan-Slavism and in a speech given in Paris (he spoke five languages) he declared that war between Slavs and Germans was inevitable, a statement his government quickly denied.
His mother raised a large sum of money to aid the oppressed Bulgarians, but while traveling to Bulgaria to disturibute the funds, she was robbed and murdered by the officer escorting her, a man personally selected by General Skobelev. Soon after, in June, the White General died of a heart attack in a Moscow hotel room at age 39.
What a guy.
This from 'The Encyclopedia of Nineteenth- Century Land Warfare' by Farwell (a must have!) and 'Military Heritage' magazine - Oct 2004 issue.
Ironmike
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Aug 12, 2004 3:29 PM
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Skobelev was probably the most outstanding general officer Russia produced between the Crimea and WWI. He is justly famous for achieving the only Russian success during Third Plevna by modifying the infantry assault tactics, but his actions at Lovech (where he displayed remarkable battlefield leadership skills) and at Sheinovo (where the bayonet charge out of a dense fog by his division closed a trap that compelled the surrender of a Turkish force of 33,000, uncovering the Shipka Pass) are equally praiseworthy. Sheinovo was a near perfectly executed operation.
However, there was a long term price to be paid for the "White General's" successes. Both Lovech and Sheinovo indicated the continued viability of the classic infantry assault against prepared enemy positions; at Sheinovo the Russians carried the Turkish position without the benefit of artillery, as they could not transport the guns through the snow-bound mountain passes in time (the battle took place in late December). The lessons of Plevna were overlooked. Even as acute an observer as F. V. Greene, an American observer who wrote a detailed study of the Russo-Turkish War, was misled. Skobelev's attack at Sheinovo, Greene insisted, "renders more than doubtful the conclusion which has been hastily drawn from this war (from Plevna particularly), that successful assaults of earthworks defended by modern breechloaders are impossible." Future commanders who attempted to duplicate Skobelev's achievments would do so at high cost to their men.
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Aug 12, 2004 4:08 PM
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I am humbled by your vast knowledge, Lannes. You always have your facts and figures squared away and you have a splendid command of the Queen's English when writing your posts.
Indeed, Skobelev was probably the best Russian general between the Crimea and WWI. I wonder what would have happened had he lived to command forces in say, 1915. Hmmm, food for thought.
Ironmike
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Aug 12, 2004 6:05 PM
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Thank you, Mike, those were generous words. Honesty compels me to admit that I am currently reading Menning's Bayonets Before Bullets: the Imperial Russian Army, 1861-1914, so I have recently come across Skobelev - but I am still searching for the d@mn atlas that goes with Greene's work!!!!
Skobelev would have been 61 at the time of the Russo-Japanese War's commencement; replace Kuropatkin with him and it is interesting to speculate on what might have happened in Manchuria.
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