“White General”, “equal to Suvorov” and “people’s hero” — these were the epithets bestowed upon the renowned military commander Mikhail Dmitriyevich Skobelev by his contemporaries. His most well-known moniker — “the white general” (or, in Turkish, “Ak Pasha”) — came from his habit of appearing on the battlefield in a white uniform and riding a white horse. Skobelev was acquainted with Nikolai Stoletov. In 1871, Staff Captain Skobelev joined the Krasnovodsk Detachment led by Colonel Stoletov on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. Skoblev was given command of the cavalry unit.

During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, Major General Stoletov commanded the units of the Bulgarian militia. In December 1877, they participated in the battle of Shipka-Sheynovo. Two of these units, as part of a vanguard, secured the passage of troops through the difficult Imitliysky Pass. Lieutenant General Skobelev was appointed commander of the Imitliysky detachment; hence six years later, Stoletov was subordinate to Skobelev. The artist Vasily Vereshchagin recalled this event as follows,