Vasily Perovsky

Count Vasily Alekseevich Perovsky (1794–1857) was an imperial Russian general and statesman.

After studying in Moscow University, he joined the emperor's retinue in 1811. When retreating toward Moscow after the Battle of Borodino, he was taken prisoner by the French, and remained in captivity until the fall of Paris in 1814.

He was seriously wounded in the 1828 war with Turkey.

In 1833 Perovsky was appointed the military governor of Orenburg. In 1839, he led an invasion of the Khanate of Khiva, in name to free the slaves captured and sold by Turkmen raiders from the Russian frontiers on the Caspian Sea, but also as an attempt to extend the Russian borders while the British Empire entangled itself in the First Anglo-Afghan War in 1839. Perovsky's expeditionary force consisted of 5,200 infantry, and 10,000 camels. Due to poor planning and a bit of bad luck, they set off, in November 1839, into one of the worst winters in memory, and were forced to turn back on 1 February 1840. The expeditionary force arrived back into Orenburg in May, having suffered over 1,000 casualties without firing a single shot.