Mishchenko was born in 1853 in the Russian fortress settlement of Temir-Khan-Shura in the Dagestan Oblast of the Caucasus Viceroyalty.

He subsequently participated in the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) and the conquest of Russian Turkestan under General Mikhail Skobelev.

From 1899, Mischchenko was assigned to Russian-occupied Manchuria as assistant chief of security for the Chinese Eastern Railway.

Initially, his forces were in Korea, with instructions to obstruct the landing of the Japanese First Army and its march towards Manchuria.

[1][3] He was promoted to lieutenant general in October 1904, and appointed commander of the new Cavalier Corps in December 1904 and led a major raid south on 6 January 1905 with 6000 horsemen on a mission to destroy Japanese supplies stockpiled at Niuzhuang.