He was educated privately, and at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and was commissioned a lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 20 April 1855. He saw active service in the Second Anglo-Chinese War 1857–59, where he took part in the battle of Canton (December 1857) and the storming of Chek-Hung under Sir Charles van Straubenzee. During the second battle of Taku Forts (June 1859), he was in command of the marksmen on board a division of gunboats during the naval action, and in charge of the ladder party when the assault was made over the mud. For his service in the war, he was specially mentioned in dispatches for gallantry and received the Second China War Medal. Promoted captain on 1 April 1862, he served in Canada during the Fenian raids in the late 1860s. He was promoted to major on 5 July 1872 and to lieutenant-colonel on 20 December 1879, during which time he served in the new British Protectorate of Cyprus.