On the 28th of February, 1860, the 2nd Battalion, under Lieutenant-Colonel Palmer,[36] embarked at Calcutta to join the Franco-British Expedition to China under _General Sir Hope Grant_. Six months later the Battalion took a vigorous part in the assault and capture of the TAKU FORTS on the Peiho River (August the 21st), and thence marched to and occupied PEKIN on the 13th of September. In September, 1861, the Battalion returned to England. ----- Footnote 30: Afterwards Major-General Sir John Jones, K.C.B. Footnote 31: Colonel Dunbar Douglas Muter, who greatly distinguished himself, obtaining two brevets during the siege and subsequent operations. He was afterwards a Military Knight of Windsor; and died in 1909. Footnote 32: Governor-General’s despatch, _London Gazette_, May 18th, 1860, upon the departure of the Regiment from India. Footnote 33: Now the 2nd King Edward’s Own Gurkha Rifles (the Sirmoor Rifles). It is stated of this gallant Regiment that, when asked what reward they would like, they begged for and were granted the red facings of the 60th to be added to their Rifle uniform. Footnote 34: Despatch, General Sir Archdale Wilson, 22nd September, 1857. Footnote 35: _London Gazette_, May 18th, 1860. Footnote 36: Afterwards Colonel and C.B. VI. 1861–1870.—NORTH AMERICA. RED RIVER. [Sidenote: 1861, TRENT AFFAIR.] In 1861 the 4th Battalion was hurriedly despatched to Canada at the time of the Trent affair, when war with the Northern States of America seemed imminent, and Fenian raids were threatened. This Battalion—commanded for fourteen years (1860–1873) by Lieutenant-Colonel Hawley,[37] an officer of commanding personality and ability—achieved at this period and later the highest reputation for its system of light drill and of organisation then far in advance of the age, a system which has gradually been adopted by the whole Army. The Regiment, both individually and collectively, is deeply indebted to Hawley. Sir Redvers Buller[38] and Lord Grenfell[39] owed their early training to his tuition; and there are few Riflemen of our generation who have achieved distinction who do not directly or indirectly owe their success to his inspiration and teaching, and his influence is still generally acknowledged in the Regiment to-day. In 1869 the 4th Battalion returned to England, and was quartered at Aldershot, where its high state of efficiency was universally acknowledged. Upon the death of Lord Gough, on the 3rd of March, 1869, Field-Marshal H.R.H. George Duke of Cambridge,[40] the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, was appointed Colonel-in-Chief. [Sidenote: 1870, RED RIVER EXPEDITION.]