Biography

Henry Andrea Burgevine was born in North Carolina, the son of Julia and Andrea Burgevine. After his father's death, the family moved to Washington, D.C. where the young Burgevine became a page to the U.S House of Representatives in 1844, and later the Senate. In 1853, he left the U.S. on a tour of Hawaii, Australia, India, and the Middle East, and then joined the French Army in 1855. After serving in the Crimean War, Burgevine returned to the U.S. where he worked an assortment of jobs until he left for Shanghai, China in 1859. By the spring of the following year, he was serving in Frederick Townsend Ward's mercenary army on behalf of the Chinese Emperor. The army became known as the "Ever-Victorious Army" for the series of victories against Taiping rebels. Burgevine lost favor with the Imperial Court after he attempted, sometimes violently, to secure back pay for his soldiers. He temporarily joined Taiping rebels for revenge, but was eventually deported from China by the American Consul. The ship that carried him away returned to China with him on board. Burgevine was given the choice to face trial for insurrection in China or deportation to Japan. He chose the latter option, but through a series of tricks was detoured and drowned on a boat carrying him to Suzhou, China for trial. He is referenced in a letter written by George Frederick Seward to his uncle, then Secretary of State, William H. Seward, dated March 25, 1864, in which he describes Burgevine's return to Shanghai. George Seward declares that Burgevine "has been a continual disturbance of the good will which I have endeavored to engineer in my intercourse with the Mandarins..."