On 17 January 1885, the Household Cavalry lost one of its most legendary figures when Colonel Frederick Gustavus Burnaby was killed in action at the Battle of Abu Klea in present-day Sudan, fighting beside old comrades and dying as he had lived - with daring and courage.

When General the Lord Wolseley was ordered to lead the Nile Expedition to relieve Major General Charles George Gordon, Burnaby was one of the senior officers whom he chose for his Staff. However, Burnaby’s ongoing unpopularity with the ‘powers-that-be’ ensured that the appointment was blocked by the Commander-in-Chief, Field Marshal HRH The Duke of Cambridge. Undeterred, Burnaby determined to follow up his earlier action against The Mahdi by mounting a one-man mission to rescue his former colleague. Knowing full-well that if his intention was discovered by the War Office he would be recalled, he let it be known that he was heading to South Africa for some big game hunting.

In great secrecy Burnaby made his way to Korti in north-central Sudan, where – dressed in an astrakhan-trimmed patrol jacket, butcher boots and, at that point, riding a donkey (Burnaby never mastered the art of riding a camel) – he met up with Wolseley’s Expeditionary Force enroute to Khartoum. Wolseley clearly recognised an unstoppable force when he saw one and, in defiance of the War Office but forbidding The Blue to use the shotguns he had in his kit, he appointed Burnaby a supernumerary Staff officer.

During the fierce hand-to-hand fighting that followed the breach of the British square, Burnaby was mortally wounded while attempting to assist an injured comrade, receiving a spear thrust to the throat. His attacker was immediately killed reportedly by a bayonet thrust from Corporal Mackintosh but Burnaby bled to death on the field, cradled by a private soldier. Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Binning later recorded that when news of Burnaby’s death spread through the ranks, many of the men openly wept at the loss of such a renowned and admired figure.

Burnaby was one of seventy-four British soldiers killed at Abu Klea. Although the battle was a tactical British victory, it proved a costly one, and together with the subsequent Battle of Abu Kru on 19 January 1885 contributed to fatal delays. As a result, the relief column failed to reach Khartoum in time to save General Charles Gordon. The city fell to Mahdist forces on 26 January 1885, with the expedition arriving two days later, on 28 January.

News of Burnaby’s death prompted widespread public mourning when it reached Britain. A popular and highly visible figure in Victorian society, he was mourned both within the Army and beyond it. Queen Victoria upon hearing of his death noted in her private diary that she took a sharp intake of breath and said poor Burnaby. The Household Cavalry marked his passing by banning music in The Blues’ barracks and the NCO’s Ball was cancelled and the Regiment went into mourning. Meanwhile, the press published lengthy obituaries, eulogising the oversized soldier and his overblown reputation. 

Public anger over Burnaby’s death, combined with outrage at the failure of the Gordon Relief Expedition, intensified criticism of Prime Minister William Gladstone’s government and contributed to the political crisis surrounding the Sudan campaign. 

In a final irony, Burnaby’s dramatic end at Abu Klea helped inspire a later generation of Household Cavalry officers to seek active service, eager to emulate the battlefield reputation of one of the regiment’s most famous sons.

The Household Cavalry Museum houses several artefacts belonging to Burnaby, including:

• His dress coat as an officer of the Royal Horse Guards, tailored to his unique proportions.
• A copy of his book, A Ride to Khiva, chronicling Burnaby’s self-funded expedition from London to the city of Khiva in Uzbekistan, despite the prohibition on foreigners travelling to the region by Tsar Alexander II following Russian annexation of Uzbekistan.
• The riding boots Burnaby was wearing that fateful day at Abu Klea.
• A Sudanese dagger and leather scabbard - a war trophy recovered from Abu Klea where Burnaby was killed.