He returned home in 1861 to be AQMG at Shorncliffe Army Camp but in 1865 was appointed military attache to the embassy at Berlin, a post he held until 1876. During the Austro-Prussian war of 1866 and the Franco-German war of 1870-1 he acted as British military commissioner to the Crown Prince of Prussia's army and was present at the battles of Weissenburg, Wörth, Sedan and the Siege of Paris. He was promoted major-general in 1873 and lieutenant-general in 1877.