He was commissioned as second lieutenant in the 87th (
Royal Irish Fusiliers) on 6 March 1835. He became a lieutenant on 4 October 1839, and captain on 6 September 1844. From July 1840 to June 1843 he was aide-de-camp to the Governor of Mauritius, where his regiment was stationed, and where his father was acting Governor during part of that time. On his return home, he was quartered at
Glasgow, and saved a boy from drowning in the Clyde at imminent risk of his own life, as he was not yet fully recovered from a severe attack of measles. He exchanged to the 18th Foot on 31 January 1845, and to the 44th on 9 May. From 15 June to 11 May 1847 he was aide-de-camp to the Governor General of British
North America. An admirable draughtsman, his sketches proved very useful during the settlement of the Oregon boundary question in 1846. He was assistant military secretary at
Hong Kong, where his father was in command, from 20 March 1848 to 27 February 1851.
Crimean War He had become a major in the
44th Regiment of Foot on 7 December 1850, and went with them to
Turkey in 1854. When the regiment embarked for the
Crimea he was to have been left behind on account of illness, but he hid himself on board until the vessel sailed. He was present at Alma and at Balaclava, where he acted as aide-de-camp to the Duke of Cambridge. On 12 December 1854 he became a lieutenant-colonel in his regiment. The 44th belonged to Sir
William Eyre's brigade of the third division, and took part in the attempt on the dockyard creek on 18 June 1855, and in the capture of the cemetery – the sole success achieved. Staveley was mentioned in dispatches (London Gazette, 4 July) and was made
CB. He also received the Crimean Medal with three clasps, the Sardinian and Turkish medals, and the Medjidia (fifth class).
China He commanded the regiment from 30 June 1855. It returned to England in July 1856, embarked for Madras in August 1857, and went on to China in March 1860. He had become colonel of the 44th on 9 March 1858, and on 28 April 1860 he was made
brigadier-general, and was given command of the 1st Brigade of Michel's 1st Division during the
Anglo-French expedition to Peking. He was present at the capture of the
Taku forts, was mentioned in dispatches (ib. 4 Nov. 1860), and received the medal with clasp. On 18 January 1861, he was given one of the rewards for distinguished service. He was left as
Commander of British Troops in China and Hong Kong in 1862. The
Taiping Rebellion was then in full career. The rebels had broken their promise not to come within thirty miles of
Shanghai and were threatening that city itself. In April Staveley marched against them with a force of about two thousand men, of which about one-third consisted of French and English seamen and marines. He shelled them out of the entrenched camp at Wongkadze and stormed Tsipu, Kahding, Tsinpu, Nanjao and Cholin in the course of April and May. But the Chinese imperial troops were unable to hold all the towns recovered, and he had to withdraw the British garrison from Kahding (ib. 18 July and 5 Aug. 1862). In the autumn Kahding and Tsinpu were again taken, and the thirty-mile radius cleared of the rebels. In December he was asked by
Li Hung Chang to name a British officer to replace the American Burgevine as commander of the disciplined Chinese force which had been formed by
Frederick Townsend Ward. Staveley named
Charles George Gordon, who had been chief engineer under him in the recent operations, and had surveyed all the country around Shanghai. They had served together before Sebastopol, and Staveley's sister was the wife of Gordon's brother. The appointment had to be approved from England, and was not taken up until the end of March 1863. At that time ill-health obliged Staveley to resign his command and go home.
Abyssinia In March 1865 he was made KCB and was appointed to the command of the first division of the
Bombay Army. On 25 September 1867, he was promoted major-general, and in November, by
Sir Robert Napier's desire, he was given command of the first division of the
force sent to Abyssinia. He showed his energy to good purpose in the organisation of the base at
Annesley Bay, and he conducted the fight on the
Arogye plain, which immediately preceded the
capture of Magdala. Napier said in his dispatch that Staveley had afforded him most valuable support and assistance throughout the campaign. He received the thanks of Parliament and the medal. ==Later life==