Family

According to Caleb Carr in his biography of Frederick Townsend Ward, Burgevine was the child of a French officer who had served under Napoleon Bonaparte and who had moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he became an instructor in French at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His father, after having been caught misappropriating funds by the President of the University, then died in a brawl in South Carolina. Burgevine then lived with his grandparents and sister in Ashford, North Carolina.

Career

At age 7 Burgevine moved to Washington, D.C. with his mother and became a Congressional and then a Senatorial page until 1853. After travels in India, Hawaii and Australia, he then returned to Washington and then enlisted in the French Army for the duration of the Crimean War, where he was decorated for bravery.

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.

簡介

他的父親曾任拿破崙法國軍官，後成為北卡羅萊納大學教堂山分校的教師。

白齊文來到中國加入常勝軍，任副統領，與太平軍作戰。1862年常勝軍首任隊長華飛烈（Frederick Ward）陣亡後，白齊文接任為第二任隊長。

他與清朝官員的關係不太好，後來因索餉毆傷道員楊坊（華飛烈的岳父），並劫餉四萬餘銀元，但根據証人說法，他索餉過程和平，並沒有使用武力。

朝廷命江蘇巡撫李鴻章拿辦，李以「劫餉毆官、不遵調度」之罪，將他撤職，「並懸賞五萬兩緝捕之」，美國駐華公使蒲安臣（Anson Burlingame）以領事裁判權為由，拒絕讓李鴻章按照大清律例審判白齊文。白齊文還要求複職，李鴻章嚴辭回拒之後，在英國將領士迪佛立（Charles Staveley）建議下，改命一位英國軍官查爾斯·戈登（Charles Gordon）為常勝軍隊長。

1863年7月，白齊文憤而改投太平軍。白招攬了一些舊部，也得到鎮守蘇州的慕王譚紹光撥了二千士兵給他訓練，因人手有限，只訓練了一千人。白齊文本來期望太平天國可以給他獨自指揮一支軍隊，可是最終只被容許統領由他帶來的一小撮人。白齊文為不能一展所長而失望，加上對戰局不樂觀，在10月決定向常勝軍隊長查爾斯·戈登投降。譚紹光准許白齊文及其部下可以離開蘇州，並且在白臨走時仍然優待。

白齊文返回上海後，被美國領事遣送到日本橫濱，禁止他再到中國。他在1864年2月重返上海，又被美國領事遣回日本。1865年初，白齊文到福建，打算投效佔據漳州的太平天國侍王李世賢，在廈門被清朝官兵拘捕。

白齊文是美國人，享有領事裁判權，清政府無權審理。李鴻章想殺他，但害怕美國政府抗議，於是用船把他押往蘇州，半途在浙江蘭溪把他溺死，對外宣佈是意外溺斃。美國政府對此亦無意追究。

注釋