Ever Victorious Army
In the early stages of the Taiping Rebellion he sided with the Qing Army, serving as the deputy commander of Ever Victorious Army, and succeeding the commander, Frederick Townsend Ward to command the Ever Victorious Army after Ward's death. Burgevine's assignment was against Ward's will, who wished his loyal Filipino subordinate Macanaya to succeed him as the commander, but the imperial Chinese court selected Burgevine instead. However, Burgevine betrayed the Qing Dynasty by later defecting and joining Li Shixian's army. He was later repatriated to the United States but he returned to China after completing half of his journey. On his return Qing police arrested him once again. In 1865 he drowned along with 10 Qing police in Xiamen's sea on the way to Shanghai, China, although some historians believed that Burgevine was murdered on Li Hongzhang's orders.