Frederick Gustavus Burnaby Colonel Frederick Gustavus Burnaby ( 3 March 1842 – 17 January 1885 ) was an English traveller and soldier . Life . He was born in Bedford , the son of the Rev . Gustavus Andrew Burnaby of Somerby Hall , Leicestershire , and canon of Middleham in Yorkshire ( died 15 July 1872 ) , by Harriet , sister of Henry Villebois of Marham House , Norfolk ( d . 1883 ) . His sister Mary married John Manners - Sutton . He was educated at Bedford School , Harrow , Oswestry School ( where he was a contemporary with William Archibald Spooner ) , and in Germany . He entered the Royal Horse Guards in 1859 . Finding no chance for active service , his spirit of adventure sought outlets in balloon ascents and in travels through Spain and Russia . In the summer of 1874 he accompanied the Carlist forces in Spain as correspondent of " The Times " , but before the end of the war he was transferred to Africa to report on Gordon ' s expedition to the Sudan . This took Burnaby as far as Khartoum . Returning to England in March 1875 , he matured his plans for a journey on horseback to the Khanate of Khiva through Russian Asia , which had just been closed to travellers . His accomplishment of this task , in the winter of 1875 – 1876 , described in his book " A Ride to Khiva " , brought him immediate fame . His next leave of absence was spent in another adventurous journey on horseback , through Asia Minor , from Scutari to Erzerum , with the object of observing the Russian frontier , an account of which he afterwards published . In the Russo - Turkish War of 1877 , Burnaby ( who soon afterwards became lieutenant - colonel ) acted as travelling agent to the Stafford House ( Red Cross ) Committee , but had to return to England before the campaign was over . In 1879 he married Elizabeth Hawkins - Whitshed , who had inherited her father ' s lands at Greystones , Ireland . The previously - named Hawkins - Whitshed estate at Greystones is known as The Burnaby to this day . At this point began his active interest in politics , and in 1880 he unsuccessfully contested Birmingham in the Tory - Democrat interest . In 1882 he crossed the English Channel in a hot air balloon . Having been disappointed in his hope of seeing active service in the Egyptian Campaign of 1882 , he participated in the Suakin campaign of 1884 without official leave , and was wounded at El Teb when acting as an intelligence officer under General Valentine Baker . This did not deter him from a similar course when a fresh expedition started up the Nile . He was given a post by Lord Wolseley , and met his death in the hand - to - hand fighting of the Battle of Abu Klea . Henry Newbolt ' s poem " Vitaï Lampada " is often quoted as referring to Burnaby ' s death at Abu Klea ; " The Gatling ' s jammed and the Colonel ' s dead . . . " , ( although it was a Gardner machine gun which jammed ) . ( both with an introduction by Peter Hopkirk ) Legacy . A tall memorial obelisk was erected in the churchyard of St Philip ' s Cathedral , Birmingham . There is a memorial window to Burnaby at St Peter ' s Church , Bedford . There is also a public house , The Burnaby Arms , located in the Black Tom area of Bedford .