Paul von Rennenkampf (Tannenberg Win)

Early career
Rennenkampf, of extraction, was born in 1854 in  now in Märjamaa Parish, Rapla County,. He joined the Imperial Russian Army at 19 and attended the Junker Infantry School in. He began his military career with the Lithuanian 5th Lancers Regiment. He graduated at the head of his class from the Nikolaevsky Military Academy in in 1882. He was assigned as a junior officer to the 14th Army Corps until 1884, and to the followed by the  to 1886. Rennenkampf was subsequently a senior aide to the headquarters of the from March 1888, staff officer to the 2nd Army Corps from October 1889, and Chief of Staff of the Osowiec Fortress from March 1890. The same year he was promoted to colonel. From November 1899, Rennenkampf, as chief of staff of the Transbaikalia region, was promoted to major general.

Rennenkampf commanded four infantry battalions, two Cossack sotnias, and two horse batteries, during the in 1900-01, and was responsible for the capture of Tsitsihar and Kirin in Manchuria, thereby removing any Boxer threat to Harbin and the Chinese Eastern Railway. During this campaign, he was decorated with both the 4th degree and 3rd degree Order of St. George for military distinction.

After the rebellion, Rennenkampf was offered a command in the Imperial Guard, but to the Tsar's surprise, he turned it down. He was then given command of the 1st Independent Cavalry Brigade, a post he held until 1904.