Aleksey Kuropatkin

Alexei Nikolayevich Kuropatkin was the Russian Imperial Minister of War from 1898 to 1904, and often held responsible for major Russian defeats in the RussianJapanese War, most notably at the Battle of Mukden and the Battle of Liaoyang.

Kuropatkin was born in 1848 in Kholm Uyezd, Pskov Governorate, in the Russian Empire. His father, a retired army captain, came from landed gentry. Educated in the Cadet Corps and Pavlovsky Military School, Kuropatkin entered the army in 1864. On August 8, 1866 he was promoted to lieutenant in the 1st Turkestan Infantry Battalion, and took part in the conquest of Bukhara, the storming of Samarkand and other battles in the Russian conquest of Turkestan. He was promoted to major in August 1870.

Source: Wikipedia