Returning to England in March 1875, he formulated his plans for a journey on horseback to the
Khanate of Khiva through Russian Asia, which had just been closed to travellers. War had broken out between the Russian army and the
Turcoman tribesmen of the desert. He planned to visit St. Petersburg to meet
Count Milyutin, the Minister of War to the
Tsar. Travelling at his own expense carrying an 85 lb pack, he departed
London Victoria station on 30 November 1875. The Russians announced they would protect the soldier along the route, but to all intents and purposes this proved impossible. The accomplishment of this task, in the winter of 1875–1876, with the aim of reciprocity for India and the Tsarist State, was described in his book
A Ride to Khiva, and brought him immediate fame. The city of
Merv was inaccessible, but presented a potential military flashpoint. The Russians knew that British Intelligence gathered information along the frontier. Similar expeditions had taken place under Captain
George Napier (1874) and Colonel
Charles MacGregor (1875). By Christmas, Burnaby had arrived at
Orenburg. In receipt of orders prohibiting progress into Persia from Russian-held territory, he was warned not to advance. A fluent Russian speaker, he was not coerced; arriving at a Russian garrison, the officers entertaining the former
Khan of Kokand. Hiring a servant and horses his party trudged through the snow to
Kazala, intending a crossing into Afghanistan from Merv. Extreme winter blizzards brought frostbite, treated with "naphtha", a Cossack emetic. Close to death, Burnaby took three weeks to recover. Having received conflicted accounts of the dubious privilege of Russian hospitality it was a welcome release, he later told his book, to be cheered with vodka. It was another 400 miles south to Khiva, when he was requested to divert to Petro Alexandrovsk, a Russian fortress garrison. Lurid tales of wild tribesmen awaiting his desert travails ready to "gouge out his eyes" were intended to discourage. He ignored the escort, believing the tribes more friendly than the Russians. Intending to go via
Bokhara and
Merv, he deviated, cutting two days off the journey. Leaving
Kazala on 12 January 1876 with a servant, guide, three camels and a
kibitka, Burnaby bribed the servant with 100 Roubles a day to avoid the fortress where he would be bound to be delayed. A local mullah wrote an introduction note to the Khan, and clad in furs they traversed the freezing desert. On the banks of River, 60 miles from the capital, he was met by the Khan's nobleman, who guided the escort into the city. Burnaby's book outlined in some detail the events of the following days, the successful outcome of the meetings, and the decision he took to evade the Russian army. The Khanate was already at war, his possessions seized; the Russians intended a march from Tashkent to seize
Kashgar, Merv and Herat. Protestations of neutrality were a sham. Burnaby gained respect from the population, who bowed in homage at a soldier
en passant. But on return to his quarters he received a note of orders from Horse Guards to return via Russia. Frustrated Burnaby learnt of the overwhelming numerical superiority the Tsarists presented. To his great surprise he was received as a brother officer at Petro Alexandrovsk. Colonel Ivanov was smug and proud declared the fate of Merv "must be decided by the sword." Released by the Khan's Treasurer he travelled for nine days with Cossacks across the snowy plains of Kazala. Hard-bitten and hungry he sat on a small pony for 900 miles.
En route he heard of what later was described in parliament as the
Bulgarian Horrors, and a forthcoming campaign against
Yakub Beg in Kashgaria. '' in his uniform as a captain in the
Royal Horse Guards by
James Tissot (1870) On arrival back in England, March 1876, he was received by Commander-in-Chief,
Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, whose praise marvelled at Burnaby's feats of derring-do and impressive physique. Burnaby's fame grew celebrated in London society, in newspaper and magazines. His guest appearances proved disappointing, when he learnt that he had travelled with the ringleaders of the Cossack Revolt. The rising of the
Eastern Question in parliament was sparked in a village in Hercegovina and spread to Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria. Outraged by the
pogroms the Prime Minister ordered immediate diplomatic efforts, while
W. E. Gladstone demanded an aggressive clear out of the
Sultanate from Europe. In the midst of this crisis Burnaby planned a second expedition, obtaining a letter of recommendation in Turkish and a diplomatic passport from the Ottoman ambassador in London,
Konstantinos Mousouros, to whom he stressed his anti-Russian sentiments. At
Constantinople he had planned to meet Count Ignatiev, the Russian ambassador, whom he missed on his journey across Turkey on horseback, through
Asia Minor, from
Scutari to
Erzerum, with the object of observing the Russian frontier, an account of which he afterwards published. He was warned the Russian garrison had issued an arrest warrant; turning back at the frontier he took ship on the Black Sea via the Bosphorus and the Mediterranean. In April 1877 Russia declared war on Turkey. The inexorable conclusion was drawn in Calcutta and London that Russia would not avoid, but wanted war and was planning more attacks. Eager for Russian rule, Colonel N L Grodekov had built a road from Tashkent to Herat via Samarkand, anticipating a war of conquest. Burnaby's warnings that the bellicose Russians posed a serious threat to India were later confirmed by
Lord Curzon, and an expedition much later under the Arabist Colonel
Francis Younghusband, witnessed by the genesis of a Cossack invasion. 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 he began taking an active interest in politics, and in
1880 he unsuccessfully contested
Birmingham in the
Tory-Democrat interest, which was followed by a second attempt in 1885. On 23 March 1882 he crossed the English Channel in a
gas 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 he was wounded at
El Teb while acting as an intelligence officer for his friend General
Valentine Baker.
Death When a fresh expedition started up the
Nile, he was given a post by
Lord Wolseley. He was involved in the skirmish at El Teb, until he met his death in the hand-to-hand fighting of the
Battle of Abu Klea. As a gap in the lines opened up Burnaby rushed out to rescue a colleague and was wounded outside the square. Corporal Mackintosh went to his rescue driving his bayonet into the assailant. Lieutenant-Colonel
Lord Binning rushed out to give him some water twice. On the last occasion he came across a private crying, holding the dying man's head. He had been struck again by a Mahdist spear through the neck and throat. Lord Binning recalled "that in our little force his death caused a feeling akin to consternation. In my own detachment many of the men sat down and cried". Private Steele who went to help him won the
Distinguished Conduct Medal. There are two memorials erected to his memory in Holy Trinity Garrison and Parish Church in Windsor, the first by the officers and men of the Royal Horse Guards and the second a privately funded memorial from
Edward, Prince of Wales. == Cultural references ==