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110-571: Nine years after Francis Garnier 's unsanctioned attempt to conquer Tonkin was cut short by the French government in 1873, French and Vietnamese troops clashed in Tonkin on 25 April 1882, when Commandant Henri Rivière seized the citadel of Hanoi with a small force of marine infantry. After a lull of several months, the arrival of reinforcements from France in February 1883 allowed Rivière to mount

220-539: A campaign to capture the citadel of Nam Định (27 March 1883). The Capture of Nam Định was strategically necessary for the French, to secure their communications with the sea. During Rivière's absence at Nam Định with the bulk of his forces, chef de bataillon Berthe de Villers defeated a Vietnamese attack on the French positions at Hanoi by Prince Hoàng Kế Viêm at the Battle of Gia Cuc (27 and 28 March 1883). Although these early actions deserve to be considered part of

330-616: A coup against the Third Republic. Boulanger had not served in Tonkin, but he was determined to take any credit going for its conquest. Francis Garnier Marie Joseph François Garnier ( Vietnamese : Ngạc Nhi ; 25 July 1839 – 21 December 1873) was a French officer, inspector of Indigenous Affairs of Cochinchina and explorer. He eventually became mission leader of the Mekong Exploration Commission in 19th century Southeast Asia. Francis Garnier

440-409: A great empire on your borders, which has on several occasions posed as your suzerain. But even if such a suzerainty ever existed, and whatever the consequences that might once have resulted from it, it is now nothing but a historical curiosity. Now here is a fact which is quite certain. You are completely at our mercy. We have the power to seize and destroy your capital and to starve you all to death. It

550-602: A terrible toll of the Black Flags, and in the opinion of some observers broke them once and for all as a serious fighting force. On 16 December 1883, the very day on which he captured Sơn Tây, Admiral Courbet was replaced in command of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps by général de division Charles-Théodore Millot , as a result of the despatch of strong reinforcements to Tonkin in November 1883 and

660-916: A warning against growing French arrogance. By now there were more than 20,000 French soldiers serving in Tonkin, and many of them were beginning to treat the local population with contempt. Tonkinese villagers, for example, were expected to kowtow if a French column passed by. Millot saw that this attitude was stirring up trouble for the future, and issued a prescient warning: Je n'ai plus qu'un conseil à vous donner : soyez pour mon successeur, le général Brière de l'Isle, ce que vous avez été pour moi, et n'oubliez pas surtout que votre présence dans le pays sera d'autant plus facilement acceptée que vous perdrez moins de vue les tendances et les aspirations des laborieuses populations qui l'habitent. (I have only one word of advice to give you. Be to my successor, General Brière de l'Isle, what you have been to me. Above all, never forget that your presence in this country will be all

770-511: Is nothing in them dishonourable to you, and if they are carried out with sincerity on both sides they will bring happiness to the people of Annam. But if you reject them, you can expect to suffer the most terrible of misfortunes. The worst catastrophe you are capable of imagining will fall far short of what will actually befall you. The empire of Annam, its royal dynasty and its princes and court will have voted for their own extinction. The very name of Vietnam will be erased from history. Cowed by

880-415: Is up to you to choose between war and peace. We do not wish to conquer you, but you must accept our protectorate. For your people, it is a guarantee of peace and prosperity. For your government and your court, it is the only chance of survival. We give you forty-eight hours to accept or reject, in their entirety and without discussion, the terms which we are magnanimously offering you. We believe that there

990-530: The Battle of Phu Lam Tao ) and the subsequent Retreat from Lạng Sơn on 28 March threw out his plans for an early penetration of the upper course of the Red River. The Sino-French War ended with the Chinese military pushed out of Tonkin, and the resulting peace treaty between France and China, signed at Tientsin on 9 June 1885, forced China to abandon its historic claim to suzerainty over Vietnam and confirmed

1100-646: The Lạng Sơn campaign . The French occupation of Dong Song on 6 February threatened the line of retreat of the Guangxi Army's right wing, and forced the Chinese to withdraw from their positions in the Song Thuong valley to the west of Lạng Sơn. The occupation of Lạng Sơn on 13 February gave the French control of the Mandarin Road from Lạng Sơn all the way back to Hanoi, and Brière de l'Isle was able to use

1210-503: The Siege of Tuyên Quang . In March 1885 the French established posts at Cau Son and Thanh Moy, previously occupied by the Guangxi Army, and began to widen the Mandarin Road so that it could be used by wagon trains to supply de Négrier's 2nd Brigade at Lạng Sơn. Further to the east, French troops extended the zone of French control along the Gulf of Tonkin, establishing a post at Tien Yen. In

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1320-562: The Tonkin Flotilla were named after the two men. During the siege of Tuyên Quang (November 1884–March 1885), Liu Yung-fu's Black Flags, who formed part of the besieging Chinese army, taunted the men of the French garrison by chanting the names of their two most famous victims: 'Garnier! Rivière! Garnier! Rivière!' In 1911, the town Beni Haoua in French Algeria was renamed 'Francis Garnier', and retained this name until

1430-464: The Treaty of Huế to the cowed Vietnamese court. The Vietnamese recognised the legitimacy of the French occupation of Cochinchina, accepted a French protectorate both for Annam and Tonkin and promised to withdraw their troops from Tonkin. Vietnam, its royal house and its court survived, but under French direction. France was granted the privilege of stationing a resident-general at Huế, who would work to

1540-628: The 1869 Geographical Congress in Antwerp . Volunteering to lead a detachment to Dali , the capital of Sultan Suleiman , the sovereign of the Muslim rebels in Yunnan , Garnier successfully carried out the more-than-adventurous enterprise. When shortly afterwards Lagrée died, Garnier naturally assumed the command of the expedition, and he conducted it in safety to the Yangtze River , and thus to

1650-633: The 1883 Treaty of Huế which formalised the French protectorate in Tonkin). The conclusion of the Tientsin Accord allowed the French to consolidate their hold on the Delta in May and June 1884. By the end of June the French had established forward bases at Hưng Hóa, Tuyên Quang, Phu Lang Thuong and Thái Nguyên. These posts, together with the bases established further to the east at Hải Dương and Quảng Yên

1760-528: The 1st Division of the expanded expeditionary corps. General François de Négrier , who had recovered from the wound he sustained at the Battle of Ky Lua (28 March 1885), was given command of the 2nd Division. De Courcy's command was marked by growing resistance to French rule in Tonkin and by outright insurrection in Annam. It was also memorable for a cholera epidemic which swept through the expeditionary corps in

1870-561: The Annam-Tonkin border, making for the sanctuary of the province of Thanh Hóa, where the French had not yet installed any garrisons. Millot despatched Lieutenant-Colonel Letellier with two Turco battalions and supporting cavalry to harry Liu Yongfu's retreat, and sent General Brière de l'Isle with the rest of the 1st Brigade in pursuit of Prince Hoang. In early May Brière de l'Isle cornered Prince Hoang in Phu Ngo, several kilometres to

1980-481: The Black Flags, with Prince Hoang's active encouragement, stepped up their attacks on French posts during the autumn of 1883. The small French garrisons in Palan and Batang were harassed, and on 17 November the French post at Hải Dương was attacked and nearly overwhelmed by a force of 2,000 Vietnamese insurgents. Only the timely arrival of the gunboat Lynx enabled the defenders to hold their positions. In December 1883

2090-674: The Chinese border, there remained widespread unrest inside Tonkin itself. Significantly, General François de Négrier was forced to make a major sweep of the Bai Sai region near Hanoi in December 1885, an operation in which hundreds of French troops died of cholera and other diseases. In April 1886 General Warnet, who had replaced de Courcy as commander of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps a few months earlier, declared that he considered Tonkin to be pacified, and proposed to

2200-562: The Chinese coast. On his return to France, he was received with enthusiasm. The preparation of his narrative was interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War During the siege of Paris , Garnier served as principal staff officer to the admiral in command of the eighth sector. His experiences during the siege were published anonymously in the feuilleton of Le Temps , and appeared separately as Le Siège de Paris, journal d'un officier de marine (1871). One day, while he

2310-445: The Chinese to accept a fait accompli. On 10 December 1883, after the failure of diplomatic efforts to persuade the Chinese to withdraw their troops, the French government authorised Courbet to attack Sơn Tây. The Sơn Tây campaign was the fiercest campaign the French had yet fought in Tonkin. Although the Chinese and Vietnamese contingents at Sơn Tây played little part in the defence, Liu Yongfu's Black Flags fought ferociously to hold

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2420-808: The French Republic, who will oversee the external relations of the kingdom of Annam but may delegate his authority and his powers, either wholly or partly, to the Resident at Huế. The Resident of France at Huế will enjoy the right of a private and personal audience with His Majesty the King of Annam, who may not refuse to receive him unless he has a convincing reason. Article 12. In Tonkin there shall be one Resident in Hanoi, one in Haiphong, one in any other coastal town that might be established in future, and one in

2530-636: The French administrator François-Jules Harmand in the wake of the French military seizure of the Thuận An forts, the treaty is often known as the 'Harmand Treaty'. Considered overly harsh in French diplomatic circles, the treaty was never ratified in France, and was replaced on 6 June 1884 with the slightly milder 'Patenôtre Treaty' or 'Treaty of Protectorate', which formed the basis for French rule in Vietnam for

2640-651: The French appeal to naked force, the Vietnamese court gave way immediately, and on 25 August 1883, Vietnamese plenipotentiaries signed a treaty whose terms were dictated by Harmand. The Treaty of Huế gave France everything it wanted from Vietnam. The Vietnamese re-recognised the legitimacy of the French colonial rule in Cochinchina, accepted a French protectorate both for Annam and Tonkin and promised to withdraw their troops from Tonkin. Vietnam, its imperial house and its court survived, but under French direction. France

2750-485: The French at Nam Định. They therefore decided, largely on Harmand's urging, to recommend to the French government a strike against the Vietnamese defences of Huế, followed by an ultimatum requiring the Vietnamese to accept a French protectorate over Tonkin or face immediate attack. The proposal was approved by the navy ministry on 11 August, and on 18 August several warships of Courbet's Tonkin Coasts naval division bombarded

2860-602: The French bishop of Huế, concluded a 48-hour armistice with the French. The Nguyễn dynasty agreed to the evacuation of twelve inland forts defending the river, the destruction of their ammunition and the removal of the barrages. Harmand then sailed upriver to Huế aboard a steam launch. At Huế, Harmand presented a brutal ultimatum to the Vietnamese court, written in a style reminiscent of the Melian dialogue of Thucydides and couched in terms that brooked no compromise. The emperor and his ministers were to have no opportunity to discuss

2970-585: The French government notified the Chinese that French troops would shortly be closing up to the Chinese frontier, de Maussion was authorised to advance to the Tonkin – Yunnan border. The French occupied Lào Cai on 29 March, and went on to establish a chain of military posts along the Red River between Lào Cai and Thanh Quan. De Maussion was appointed commandant supérieur of the Haute Fleuve Rouge region. The French also raised their flags along

3080-412: The French government that the expeditionary corps should be reduced in size to a division of occupation. Conventionally, April 1886 marks the end of the Tonkin campaign. The belief that Tonkin was pacified, however, was ludicrously premature. The Pacification of Tonkin , sometimes involving fighting on a large scale, would require a further ten years. The Tonkin campaign was commemorated in France with

3190-493: The French position in Tonkin. Although the French were now in a position to consider taking the offensive against Liu Yongfu , they realised that military action against the Black Flag Army had to be accompanied by a political settlement with the Vietnamese court at Huế, if necessary by coercion, that recognised a French protectorate in Tonkin. On 30 July 1883 Admiral Courbet, General Bouët and François-Jules Harmand ,

3300-791: The French possessions in Lower Cochinchina. Article 3. A French military force will occupy the Deo Ngang mountain chain, terminating at Cape Ving Kuia, on a permanent basis, and also the Thuan An forts and the forts at the entrance to the Huế River, which will be rebuilt at the discretion of the French authorities. These forts are called in the Annamese language Ha Duon, Tran Hai, Thay Duong, Trang Lang, Hap Chau, Lo Thau and Luy Moi. Article 4. The Annamese government will immediately recall

3410-484: The French protectorate over both Annam and Tonkin. In theory, the way was now clear for the French to consolidate their claim to Tonkin. In practice, this was not so easy as it might have seemed. As a British statesman remarked at the time: 'France has won her claim to Tonkin; now all she has to do is conquer it.' Strong reinforcements were sent to Tonkin in the wake of the Retreat from Lạng Sơn (March 1885), bringing

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3520-425: The French timetable for the conquest of Tonkin, and initially placed the French on the defensive against an invasion of the Delta by the Chinese armies. In September 1884 General Millot resigned as general-in-chief of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps and was replaced by his senior brigade commander, Louis Brière de l'Isle . Revealingly, Millot's final order of the day to the soldiers of the expeditionary corps contained

3630-475: The French took their revenge by bayoneting the Vietnamese wounded. The capture of Hải Dương secured the French line of communication by river between Hanoi and Haiphong. The French occupied the citadel of Hải Dương and also established a post a few kilometres to the north of the town, at Elephant Mountain. In November 1883 the French further strengthened their grip on the Delta by occupying the towns of Ninh Bình, Hưng Yên and Quảng Yên. The allegiance of Ninh Bình

3740-404: The French took their revenge. Admiral Amédée Courbet , who had replaced Bouët in command of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps two months earlier, assembled a column of 9,000 men and marched on Sơn Tây for a showdown with Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army . The decision was of considerable political significance, as an attack on Sơn Tây would bring the French into direct conflict with Chinese troops for

3850-10045: The French undertook to drive out the Black Flag Army from Tonkin and to guarantee freedom of commerce on the Red River (Article 23). These were hardly concessions since they were planning to do both anyway. The original French text of the treaty, in twenty-seven articles, is given below. Art. 1. L’Annam reconnaît et accepte le protectorat de la France, avec les conséquences de ce mode de rapports au point de vue du droit diplomatique européen, c’est-à-dire que la France présidera aux relations de toutes les Puissances étrangères, y compris la Chine, avec le Gouvernement annamite, qui ne pourra communiquer diplomatiquement avec lesdites Puissances que par l'intermédiaire de la France seulement. Art. 2. Le province de Binh-Thuan est annexée aux possessions françaises de la Basse-Cochinchine. Art. 3. Une force militaire française occupera d'une façon permanente la chaîne de montagnes Deo-Ngang, qui aboutit au cap Ving-Kuia, ainsi que les forts de Thuan-An, et ceux de l'entrée de la rivière de Hué, qui seront reconstruits au gré des autorités françaises. Les forts s’appellent en langue annamite : Ha-Duon, Tran-Haï, Thay-Duong, Trang-Lang, Hap-Chau, Lo-Thau et Luy-Moï. Art. 4. Le Gouvernement annamite rappellera immédiatement les troupes envoyées au Tonkin, dont les garnisons seront remises sur le pied de paix. Art. 5. Le Gouvernement annamite donnera l'ordre aux mandarins du Tonkin d'aller reprendre leurs postes, nommera de nouveaux fonctionnaires aux postes vacants, et confirmera éventuellement, après entente commune, les nominations faites par les autorités françaises. Art. 6. Les fonctionnaires provinciaux depuis la frontière nord du Binh-Thuan jusqu’à celle du Tonkin – et par cette dernière nous entendons la chaîne Deo-Ngang qui servira de limite – administreront, comme par le passé, sans aucun contrôle de la France, sauf en ce qui concerne les douanes ou bien les travaux publics, et, en général, tout ce qui exige une direction unique et la compétence de techniciens européens. Art. 7. Dans les limites ci-dessus, le Gouvernement annamite déclarera ouverts au commerce de toutes les nations – outre le port de Quin-Nhon – ceux de Tourane et de Xuanday. On discutera ultérieurement s’il n’est pas avantageux aux deux États d'en ouvrir d'autres, et l'on fixera également les limites des concessions françaises dans les ports ouverts. La France y entretiendra des agents, sous les ordres du Résident de France à Hué. Art. 8. La France pourra élever un phare soit au cap Varela, soit au cap Padaran ou à Poulo-Cécir de mer, suivant les conclusions d'un rapport qui sera fait par des officiers et ingénieurs français. Art. 9. Le Gouvernement de S. M. le Roi d'Annam s’engage à réparer, à frais communs et après entente, entre les deux Hautes Parties contractantes, la grande route d'Hanoi à Saigon, et à l'entretenir en bon état, de façon à y permettre le passage des voitures. La France fournira des ingénieurs pour faire exécuter les travaux d'art, tels que ponts et tunnels. Art. 10. Une ligne télégraphique sera établie sur ce trajet et exploitée par des employés français. Une partie des taxes sera attribuée au Gouvernement annamite, qui concédera, en outre, le terrain nécessaire aux stations. Art. 11. Il y aura à Hué un Résident, fonctionnaire d'un rang très élevé. Il ne s'immiscera pas dans les affaires intérieures de la province de Hué, mais il sera le représentant du protectorat français, sous le contrôle du Commissaire général du Gouvernement de la République française, lequel présidera aux relations extérieures du royaume d'Annam, mais pourra déléguer son autorité et tout ou partie de ses pouvoirs au résident de Hué. Le Résident de France à Hué aura droit d'audience privée et personnelle auprès de S. M. le Roi d'Annam, qui ne pourra refuser de le recevoir, sans motif valable. Art. 12. Au Tonkin, il y aura un Résident à Hanoï, un à Haïphong, un dans les villes maritimes qui pourraient ultérieurement se fonder, un au chef-lieu de chaque grande province. Aussitôt que le besoin s'en fera sentir, les chefs-lieux des provinces secondaires recevront aussi des fonctionnaires français qui seront placés sous l'autorité des Résidents de la grande province de laquelle ils relèvent, suivant le système des divisions administratives du pays. Art. 13. Les Résidents et les Résidents-adjoints seront assistés des aides et collaborateurs qui leur seront nécessaires, et protégés par une garnison française ou indigène, suffisante pour assurer leur pleine sécurité. Art. 14. Les Résidents éviteront de s'occuper des détails de l'administration intérieure des provinces. Les mandarins indigènes de toute catégorie continueront à gouverner et à administrer sous leur contrôle; mais ils pourront être changés sur la demande des autorités françaises, s'ils manifestaient de mauvaises dispositions à leur égard. Art. 15. C'est par l'intermédiaire des Résidents seuls que les fonctionnaires et employés français de toute catégorie, appartenant aux services généraux, tels que postes et télégraphes, trésor, douanes, travaux publics, écoles françaises, etc., etc., pourront avoir des rapports officiels avec les autorités annamites. Art. 16. Les Résidents rendront la justice dans toutes les affaires civiles, correctionnelles ou commerciales entre les Européens de toutes nationalités, et les indigènes, entre ceux-ci et ceux des Asiatiques étrangers qui voudront jouir des avantages de la protection française. Les appels des jugements des Résidents seront portés à Saïgon. Art. 17. Les Résidents contrôleront la police dans les agglomérations urbaines, et leur droit de contrôle sur les fonctionnaires indigènes s'étendra suivant les développements desdites agglomérations. Art. 18. Les Résidents centraliseront, avec le concours des Quan-Bo, le service des impôts, dont ils surveilleront la perception et l'emploi. Art. 19. Les douanes, réorganisées, seront entièrement confiées à des administrateurs français. Il n'y aura que des douanes maritimes et des frontières, placées partout où le besoin s'en fera sentir. Aucune réclamation ne sera admise relativement aux douanes pour les mesures prises par les autorités militaires au Tonkin. Art. 20. Les citoyens ou sujets français jouiront, dans toute l'étendue du Tonkin, et dans les ports ouverts de l'Annam, d'une entière liberté pour leurs personnes et leurs propriétés. Au Tonkin, et dans les limites des ports ouverts de l'Annam, ils pourront circuler, s'établir et posséder librement. Il en sera de même de tous les étrangers qui réclameront le bénéfice de la protection française d'une façon permanente ou temporaire. Art. 21. Les personnes qui, pour des motifs d'ordre scientifique ou autres, voudront voyager dans l'intérieur de l'Annam, ne pourront en obtenir l'autorisation que par l'intermédiaire du Résident de France à Hué, du Gouverneur de la Cochinchine ou du Commissaire général de la République au Tonkin. Ces autorités leur délivreront des passeports qui seront présentés au visa du Gouvernement annamite. Art. 22. La France entretiendra, tant que cette précaution lui paraîtra nécessaire, des postes militaires le long du Fleuve-Rouge, de façon à en garantir la libre circulation. Elle pourra également élever des fortifications permanentes où elle le jugera utile. Art. 23. La France s'engage à garantir désormais l'intégrité complète des États de S. M. le Roi d'Annam, à défendre ce Souverain contre toutes les agressions du dehors et contre toutes les rébellions du dedans, et à soutenir ses justes revendications contre les étrangers. La France se charge à elle seule de chasser du Tonkin les bandes connues sous le nom de Pavillons-Noirs et d'assurer par ses moyens la sécurité et la liberté du commerce du Fleuve-Rouge. Sa Majesté le Roi d'Annam continue, comme par le passé, à diriger l'administration intérieure de ses États, sauf les restrictions qui résultent de la présente convention. Art. 24. La France s'engage également à fournir à S. M. le Roi d'Annam tous les instructeurs, ingénieurs, savants, officiers, etc., dont elle aura besoin. Art. 25. La France considérera en tous lieux, au dedans comme au dehors, tous les Annamites comme ses vrais protégés. Art. 26. Les dettes actuelles de l'Annam vis-à-vis de la France seront considérées comme acquittées par le fait de la cession de Binh-Thuan. Art. 27. Des conférences ultérieures fixeront la quotité à attribuer au Gouvernement annamite sur le produit des douanes, des taxes télégraphiques, etc., etc., du royaume, des impôts et douanes du Tonkin et des monopoles ou entreprises industrielles qui seront concédées au Tonkin. Les sommes prélevées sur ces recettes ne pourront pas être inférieures à 2 millions de francs. La piastre mexicaine et les monnaies d'argent de la Cochinchine française auront cours forcé dans toute l'étendue du royaume, concurremment avec les monnaies nationales annamites. La présente Convention sera soumise à l'approbation du Président de la République française et de S. M. le Roi d'Annam, et les ratifications en seront échangées aussitôt que possible. La France et l'Annam nommeront alors des Plénipotentiaires qui se réuniront à Hué pour examiner et régler tous les points de détails. Les Plénipotentiaires nommés par le Président de la République française et S. M. le Roi d'Annam étudieront, dans une conférence, le régime commercial le plus avantageux aux deux États, ainsi que le règlement du système douanier sur les bases indiquées à l'article 19 ci-dessus. Ils étudieront aussi toutes les questions relatives aux monopoles du Tonkin, aux concessions de mines, de forêts, de salines et d'industries généralement quelconques. Fait à Hué, en la légation de France, le 25e jour du mois d'août 1883 (23e jour du 7e mois annamite). Article 1. Annam recognises and accepts

3960-419: The French. After meeting with Dupuis, Garnier attempted to negotiate with the local authorities, but since the mandarins refused to negotiate, he began considering military action. On 12 November, the remainder of the expeditionary force arrived, and Garnier decided to capture the city despite having received no orders to do so. On 20 November at dawn, Garnier and his 180 men stormed the citadel of Hanoi, which

4070-484: The Guangxi Army after the rout at Bắc Ninh and by mounting a major campaign against Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army, which had retreated to Hưng Hóa. On 11 April 1884 Millot captured Hưng Hóa and Dong Yan, flanking the Black Flag Army and its Vietnamese allies out of a formidable defensive position without losing a man. The Black Flag Army retreated westwards up the Red River to Thanh Quan, while Prince Hoang Ke Viem's Vietnamese forces fell back southwards from Dong Yan towards

4180-589: The Thuận An forts at the entrance to the Huế River. On 20 August, in the Battle of Thuận An , two companies of French marine infantry and the landing companies of three French warships went ashore and stormed the forts under heavy fire. During the afternoon the gunboats Lynx and Vipère forced a barrage at the entrance to the River of Perfumes, enabling the French to attack Huế directly if they chose. The Vietnamese asked for an armistice, and on 25 August Harmand dictated

4290-529: The Tonkin campaign, the campaign is conventionally considered to have begun in June 1883, in the wake of the decision by the French government to despatch reinforcements to Tonkin to avenge Rivière's defeat and death at the hands of Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army at the Battle of Paper Bridge on 19 May 1883. These reinforcements were organised into a Tonkin Expeditionary Corps , which was placed under

4400-541: The Tonkin-Guangxi border. The terms of the June 1885 peace treaty between France and China required both parties to demarcate the border between China and Tonkin. As it would have been embarrassing for the French to admit that this could not be done because the Lạng Sơn region had been overrun by brigands since the departure of the Guangxi Army in May 1885, de Courcy was forced to send an expedition to regain control of

4510-472: The Yunnan Army along the Red River to protect its supply line during the Siege of Tuyên Quang . Bands of brigands took over these forts as soon as the Chinese evacuated them. The bandits struck far and wide beyond the limits of French control. Wherever they could, Tonkinese villagers left their homes and took shelter beneath the walls of the French forts. Only one important French sweep was made during

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4620-552: The administration of Cholon , a suburb of Saigon . It was at his suggestion that the marquis de Chasseloup-Laubat determined to send a mission to explore the valley of the Mekong River , but as Garnier was not considered old enough to be put in command, the chief authority was entrusted to Captain Ernest Doudard de Lagrée . In the course of the expedition – to quote the words of Sir Roderick Murchison addressed to

4730-593: The arrangements made for the Bastille Day parade of 14 July 1886, an imposing annual march through the streets of Paris by the men of France's armed and disciplined services. A special effort was made on this occasion to honour the men who had fought the war with China. Contingents from the battalions and batteries that had served in Tonkin and Formosa marched in the parade, wearing battlefield uniforms instead of full dress. Other arrangements, however, were not so welcome. Although Lieutenant-Colonel Marc-Edmond Dominé,

4840-410: The attack on Thanh May, almost as many men as Brière de l'Isle had commanded during the Lạng Sơn campaign in February 1885. An elaborate encircling movement was mishandled, and though the French duly occupied Thanh May, avenging their defeat in the Battle of Phu Lam Tao seven months earlier, most of the brigands escaped the closing pincers and regrouped further up the Red River around Thanh Quan. In

4950-521: The attack was thoroughly prepared by artillery, and delivered only after the defenders had been worn down. At 5 p.m. a Foreign Legion battalion and a battalion of marines captured the western gate of Sơn Tây and fought their way into the town. Liu Yongfu's garrison withdrew to the citadel, and evacuated Sơn Tây under cover of darkness several hours later. Courbet had achieved his objective, but at considerable cost. French casualties at Sontay were 83 dead and 320 wounded. The fighting at Sơn Tây also took

5060-410: The bandits to retreat behind the bamboo hedges. A 40-millimetre gun arrived at this moment. Garnier rallied a dozen men, three of whom dragged this small cannon, and left the town at a run to pursue the enemy. As the gun could not move quickly enough across the fields, he left it behind with its gunners. He then divided the nine men who remained with him into three groups. The first two groups moved off to

5170-506: The border between Annam and Tonkin (Article 3). Large swathes of territory were also transferred from Annam to Cochinchina and Tonkin. The French cancelled the country's debts (Article 26) but required in return the cession of the southern province of Bình Thuận , which was annexed to the French colony of Cochinchina (Article 2). At the same time the northern provinces of Nghệ An , Thanh Hóa and Hà Tĩnh were transferred to Tonkin, where they would come under direct French oversight. In return,

5280-559: The border region. In November 1885 chef de bataillon Servière led a column north from Chu to reoccupy Lạng Sơn and Đồng Đăng. He went on install French posts at That Ke and Cao Bằng. This acte de présence established the conditions necessary for an orderly demarcation of the Sino-Vietnamese border in 1887, in which a few minor revisions were made in China's favour. Although the tricolour now flew above French customs posts along

5390-554: The border towns of My Luong, Ke Son and Phu Ngo and establishing French posts there. This stroke secured the French rear and allowed the expeditionary corps to concentrate substantial forces against the expected Chinese invasion. In October 1884 General François de Négrier defeated a major Chinese invasion of the Tonkin Delta in the Kép campaign . This campaign brought French troops into the hitherto-unexplored Luc Nam valley, and at

5500-402: The citadel of Ninh Binh with six sailors and a Vietnamese interpreter after taking the governor hostage. On 11 December, Garnier himself conquered the citadel of Nam Dinh , and the expeditionary force received its first casualties as five sailors were wounded. With the fall of Nam Dinh on 11 December, the French force was in control of the entire Red River Delta. Completely overwhelmed by

5610-466: The city. On 14 December the French assaulted the outer defences of Sơn Tây at Phu Sa, but were thrown back with heavy casualties. Hoping to exploit Courbet's defeat, Liu Yongfu attacked the French lines the same night, but the Black Flag attack also failed disastrously. After resting his troops on 15 December, Courbet again assaulted the defences of Sơn Tây on the afternoon of 16 December. This time

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5720-400: The civil commissioner-general in Tonkin and could require a personal audience with the Vietnamese emperor. To ensure there were no second thoughts, a permanent French garrison would occupy the Thuận An forts. Large swathes of territory were also transferred from Annam to Tonkin and the French colony of Cochinchina. The French cancelled the country's debts, but required in return the cession of

5830-539: The close of the campaign the French occupied the villages of Chu and Kép, which were converted into forward bases for an eventual campaign against Lạng Sơn. In the western Delta, where their advanced post of Tuyên Quang lay under growing threat from the advancing Yunnan Army, the French widened their area of occupation in the autumn of 1884 by establishing posts at Phu Doan and Vie Tri on the Clear River. In February 1885 Brière de l'Isle defeated China's Guangxi Army in

5940-508: The coast of the Gulf of Tonkin around Dam Ha and Ha Coi. On 11 May 1884, the same day as French and Chinese forces clashed at Thái Nguyên, France and China concluded the Tientsin Accord . This treaty provided for the immediate evacuation of Tonkin by the Chinese armies, and the implicit recognition by China of the French protectorate over Tonkin (the Chinese agreed to recognise all treaties concluded between France and Annam, including

6050-420: The command of général de brigade Alexandre-Eugène Bouët (1833–87), the highest-ranking marine infantry officer available in the French colony of Cochinchina. The French position in Tonkin on Bouët's arrival in early June 1883 was extremely precarious. The French had only small garrisons in Hanoi, Haiphong and Nam Định, isolated posts at Hon Gai and at Qui Nhơn in Annam, and little immediate prospect of taking

6160-421: The command of Lieutenant-Colonel Brionval stormed the Vietnamese defences of Hải Dương on 13 August. The capture of Haiduong was notable for atrocities committed by both the French and the Vietnamese. The French discovered, hung up by hooks from the city walls, the mutilated bodies of several missing French and Vietnamese soldiers of the expeditionary corps. The dead soldiers had clearly been tortured to death, and

6270-525: The commerce of all nations the ports of Tourane and Xuan Day, as well as that of Qui Nhơn. The two States shall further discuss the advantages of opening other ports, and will also settle the boundaries of the French concessions in the open ports. France will maintain agents in these ports, under the orders of the French Resident at Huế. Article 8. France may erect a lighthouse either at Cap Varela, Cap Padaran or coastal Poulo Cecir, in accordance with

6380-573: The conclusions of a report to be made by French officers and engineers. Article 9. The Government of His Majesty the King of Annam undertakes to repair, at the public expense and upon terms agreed by the two High Contracting Parties, the main road from Hanoi to Saigon, and to maintain it in good condition so that it can carry wheeled traffic. France will provide engineers to supervise the construction of technically demanding works such as bridges and tunnels. Article 10. A telegraph line shall be built along this route and operated by French employees. Part of

6490-575: The confrontation between France and China in Tonkin, but a clash between French and Chinese troops at Bac Le on 23 June 1884 plunged both countries into a fresh crisis. China's refusal to pay an indemnity for the Bắc Lệ ambush led two months later to the outbreak of the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885). The outbreak of the Sino-French War in August 1884 complicated and considerably retarded

6600-504: The conquered cities, Vietnam formally recognized French sovereignty over Cochinchina, opened the Red River to French trade and allowed the establishment of small French garrisons in Hanoi and Haiphong . Garnier's chief fame rests on the fact that he both conceived the idea of exploring the Mekong and carried out the larger portion of the work. During the French colonial period he was also honoured for his feats of arms in Tonkin, which paved

6710-417: The consequent expansion of the expeditionary corps into a two-brigade army division. Although the capture of Sơn Tây paved the way for the eventual French conquest of Tonkin, the French now had to deal with opposition from China as well as the Black Flag Army. Having exhausted diplomatic efforts to persuade the Chinese to withdraw their armies from Tonkin, the French government sanctioned an attack by Millot on

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6820-463: The country unfavourable to further exploration, so accordingly, he went to China, and in 1873 followed the upper course of the Yangtze River to the waterfalls . In late summer 1873, a dispute between French trader Jean Dupuis and the Vietnamese authorities had created a diplomatic crisis in Hanoi. On the demand of the Vietnamese imperial court, Garnier was sent by Admiral Dupré to resolve

6930-419: The dispute and to expel Dupuis and his mercenaries from the Tonkin. Garnier's expeditionary force consisted in 180 men and two gunboats. Garnier departed from Saigon with half of the expeditionary force on 11 October 1873 and reached Hanoi on 5 November. As Garnier and his men arrived in the city, neither General Nguyễn Tri Phương , nor any of his mandarins came to meet them. Dupuis, however, warmly welcomed

7040-484: The first time in the campaign. China, the traditional overlord of Vietnam, had for months been covertly supporting the Black Flags, and had stationed Chinese troops in Sơn Tây, Lạng Sơn, Bắc Ninh and other Tonkinese towns to limit French freedom of movement. The French government appreciated that an attack on Sơn Tây would probably result in an undeclared war with China, but calculated that a quick victory in Tonkin would force

7150-428: The first week of February 1886 two columns commanded by General Jamais and Lieutenant-Colonel de Maussion, under the overall direction of General Jamont, advanced up both banks of the Red River as far as Thanh Quan. The bands that had been driven from Thanh May did not stay to fight, but melted into the forests before the French advance. On 17 February the French occupied Van Ban Chau. After a pause of several weeks while

7260-504: The fortress of Bắc Ninh, occupied since the autumn of 1882 by China's Guangxi Army . In March 1884, in the Bắc Ninh campaign , Millot routed the Guangxi Army and captured Bắc Ninh. Millot put just over 11,000 French, Algerian and Vietnamese soldiers into the field at Bắc Ninh, the largest concentration of French troops ever assembled in the Tonkin campaign. Millot followed up his victory by mopping up scattered Chinese garrisons left behind by

7370-439: The frontier of Tonkin (by which we mean the frontier defined by the Deo Ngang chain) will continue to administer their provinces as previously, free from French control except in matters concerning the customs and the public works and, in general, any aspect of administration requiring the sole direction and technical expertise of European specialists. Article 7. Within the above limits, the Annamese government shall declare open to

7480-468: The hero of the Siege of Tuyên Quang , rode in the procession, General Louis Brière de l'Isle and General François de Négrier did not. Both men were heroes to the soldiers of the expeditionary corps, and the veterans greatly resented their absence from the parade. Instead, the man who rode at the head of the march past was the controversial and ambitious new army minister General Georges Boulanger , who only three years later would be suspected of plotting

7590-399: The historian of French Indochina, gave the following detailed description of Garnier's last moments: At midday on 21 December he was in conference with the ambassadors when an interpreter ran up, announcing that bands of Black Flags were attacking the town by the western gate. He immediately hurried to the spot, but some of his men had got there before him, and their fire had sufficed to force

7700-406: The independence in 1962. In 1943, French Indochina issued a postage stamp commemorating Garnier. Treaty of Hu%E1%BA%BF (1883) The Treaty of Huế , (Vietnamese: Hòa ước Harmand , Hòa ước Quý Mùi ) concluded on 25 August 1883 between Vietnam (Nguyễn dynasty) and France , recognising a French protectorate over Vietnam divided into Annam and Tonkin . Dictated to the Vietnamese by

7810-502: The issue of a Tonkin Expedition commemorative medal . French soldiers who had taken part in the campaign had hoped that the medal would be inscribed with the names of all their Tonkin victories, but there were some puzzling absences, notably the Lạng Sơn campaign , from the feats of arms commemorated. This decision angered many veterans, who felt that it did not adequately recognise their deeds. The veterans were further offended by

7920-419: The leader of the French force, the Black Flags and Vietnamese retreated without having retaken Hanoi. Though the death of Garnier was a severe blow to the expeditionary force, his men nevertheless remained in control of the entire region. However, the conquest had not been allowed by the French authorities, and another lieutenant named Paul-Louis-Félix Philastre had been sent to terminate the campaign as soon as

8030-411: The left and the right, to rejoin one another further on, while he marched in the middle, followed only by two men. One and a half kilometres from the town he found himself in front of a dyke, and slipped and fell while trying to cross it. Some Black Flags hidden behind the dyke ran out, while others opened fire. At this moment the two men who were accompanying Garnier were 100 metres behind him. One of them

8140-697: The life of a cavalry lieutenant who had fallen overboard. For this act of bravery, Garnier was immediately promoted to ensign and got attached to the staff of Admiral Charner . Under Admiral Charner he fought in the Cochinchina Campaign and notably took part in the storming of the Kỳ Hòa lines . After some time spent in France, Garnier returned to the East, and in 1862, he was appointed inspector of native affairs in Cochinchina , and entrusted with

8250-544: The lightning French conquest, the Vietnamese authorities had sought the help of Liu Yongfu and his Black Flag Army , a group of Chinese outlaws, composed largely of veterans of the Taiping Rebellion , who had settled in Northern Vietnam. On 21 December 1873 Liu Yongfu and around 600 Black Flags ( French : pavillons noirs , drapeaux noirs ), marching beneath an enormous black banner, approached

8360-473: The more easily accepted the more you bear in mind the customs and aspirations of the hard-working peoples that inhabit it.) Brière de l'Isle was a natural leader of men, and under his command the expeditionary corps achieved a high standard of professional excellence. One of his first acts as general-in-chief, in September 1884, was to seal off Tonkin from Annam by ejecting Vietnamese bandit concentrations from

8470-464: The news of Garnier's attack on Hanoi reached Saigon. Philastre arrived a few days after Garnier's death and immediately ordered the evacuation of the conquered cities in early 1874. The heads of Garnier, Balny d'Avricourt and the other three French sailors killed in the 21 December attack were returned to the French on 6 January. On 15 March 1874, the Treaty of Saigon was then signed between France and Vietnam. In exchange for France having given back

8580-501: The next seven decades. The treaty was dictated to the Vietnamese in the wake of the French victory at the Battle of Thuận An (20 August 1883) by Jules Harmand, the French civil commissioner-general for Tonkin. The capture of the Thuận An forts exposed Huế to immediate attack and overawed the Vietnamese court. Shortly after the battle, Nguyễn Trọng Hợp, the Vietnamese Minister of personnel, accompanied by Monsignor Gaspar,

8690-489: The northwest of Ninh Bình, but the French government forbade him to attack the Vietnamese defences, having just received news that China was ready to treat with France over the future of Tonkin. Elsewhere, though, the French kept up the pressure. On 11 May chef de bataillon Reygasse attacked the Chinese garrison of Thái Nguyên and drove it out. In the same week the landing companies of Admiral Courbet's Tonkin Coasts naval division exterminated nests of Vietnamese pirates along

8800-491: The offensive against Liu Yongfu 's Black Flag Army . Bouët twice attacked the Black Flags in their defences along the Day River, in the Battle of Phủ Hoài (15 August 1883) and the Battle of Palan (1 September 1883). These offensives met with only limited success, and in the eyes of the world were tantamount to French defeats. More encouragingly for the French, a column of marine infantry and Cochinchinese riflemen under

8910-504: The offensive against Liu Yongfu's Black Flags and Prince Hoàng Kế Viêm's Vietnamese. Bouët's first step was to withdraw the isolated French garrisons of Qui Nhơn and Hon Gai. He had also been authorised to abandon Nam Định at need, but he decided to try to defend all three major French posts. During June, the French dug in behind their defences and beat off half-hearted Vietnamese demonstrations against Hanoi and Nam Định. The early arrival of reinforcements from France and New Caledonia and

9020-457: The patriotic rhetoric of the Cần Vương insurgency against the French. For most of the summer of 1885, when European troops normally kept to their barracks anyway, French control of Tonkin was limited to a small radius around the perimeter of their military posts. No attempt was made by de Courcy to move forward to reoccupy Lạng Sơn, evacuated by the Chinese in May, nor to secure the forts built by

9130-436: The previous autumn, formed a cordon that enclosed most of the Delta. Behind this chain of frontline posts the French were strongly entrenched in Sơn Tây, Hanoi, Nam Định, Ninh Bình, Bắc Ninh and Sept Pagodes . It only remained for them to occupy Lạng Sơn and the other fortresses of northern Tonkin once they were evacuated by the Chinese under the terms of the Tientsin Accord. In theory, the Tientsin Accord should have resolved

9240-461: The protectorate of France and the consequences that this relationship entails in European diplomatic practice, namely that France will be responsible for relations with all foreign powers, including China, with the Annamese government, and that the latter may only communicate diplomatically with these powers through the sole intermediary of France. Article 2. The province of Bình Thuận is annexed to

9350-463: The recently appointed French civil commissioner-general for Tonkin, held a council of war at Haiphong. The three men agreed that Bouët should launch an offensive against the Black Flag Army in its positions around Phu Hoai on the Day River as soon as possible. They also noted that the Court of Huế was covertly aiding and abetting Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army, and that Prince Hoàng was still in arms against

9460-577: The recruitment of Cochinchinese and Tonkinese auxiliary formations allowed Bouët to hit back at his tormentors. On 19 July chef de bataillon Pierre de Badens, the French commandant supérieur at Nam Định, attacked and defeated Prince Hoàng Kế Viêm's besieging Vietnamese army, effectively relieving Vietnamese pressure on Nam Định. The arrival of Admiral Amédée Courbet in Ha Long Bay in July 1883 with substantial naval reinforcements further strengthened

9570-452: The road to bring prompt relief to the hard-pressed French garrison of Tuyên Quang. During the second fortnight of February Colonel Laurent Giovanninelli's 1st Brigade marched down the Mandarin Road to Hanoi and was then ferried up the Red and Clear Rivers to Phu Doan aboard a flotilla of gunboats. On 2 March 1885 Giovanninelli defeated Liu Yongfu's Black Flags in the Battle of Hòa Mộc , relieving

9680-437: The southern province of Bình Thuận , which was annexed to Cochinchina. At the same time the northern provinces of Nghệ An , Thanh Hóa and Hà Tĩnh were transferred to Tonkin, where they would come under direct French oversight. In return the French undertook to drive out the Black Flags from Tonkin and to guarantee freedom of commerce on the Red River. Meanwhile, as agreed at the Haiphong conference, General Bouët duly took

9790-588: The stage while the tragedy was played out in blood, not only across ravaged Tonkin but in Annam too, which during the summer slid into war.) De Courcy bestirred himself with the arrival of the autumn campaigning season. The main French effort was made in the west, along the Red River. The Tonkin expeditionary corps undertook a large-scale campaign in October 1885 to capture the Yunnan Army's old base at Thanh May, which had been occupied by Vietnamese insurgents some months earlier. De Courcy concentrated 7,000 troops for

9900-511: The summer and autumn of 1885, exacerbated by de Courcy's neglect of quarantine precautions, in which more French soldiers died than in the entire nine months of the Sino-French War. Elements of the Tonkin expeditionary corps were attacked at Huế on 2 July 1885 in the so-called 'Huế Ambush', which initiated the Vietnamese insurrection. Forbidden by the French government to launch a full-scale invasion of Annam, de Courcy landed troops along

10010-522: The summer of 1885 in Tonkin, and its effects were transitory. In July 1885 a mixed column of Algerian and Tonkinese riflemen under the command of Colonel Mourlan drove a band of insurgents from the Tam Dao massif and established a French post at Lien Son. The insurgents fled without accepting battle and regrouped in Thái Nguyên province. The blundering response of de Courcy and his staff officers to

10120-488: The tax revenue therefrom shall be remitted to the Annamese government in return for the surrender of the land necessary for the telegraph stations. Article 11. An official of the very highest rank shall be installed at Huế as Resident. He will not interfere in the internal affairs of the province of Huế, but he will be the representative of the French protectorate and will answer to the Commissioner-General of

10230-414: The terms of the treaty or to haggle over individual clauses. They must accept the treaty in full, or the terrible vengeance of France would fall upon them: If we wanted to, we could destroy your dynasty root and branch and seize for ourselves the entire kingdom, as we have done in Cochinchina. You know very well that this would present no difficulty to our armies. For a moment, you hoped to find help from

10340-515: The total number of French soldiers in Tonkin to 35,000 in the summer of 1885. In May and June 1885 thousands of fresh French troops poured into Tonkin, swamping the veterans of the two brigades that had fought the Sino-French War, and the expeditionary corps was reorganised into two two-brigade divisions. Brière de l'Isle was replaced in command of the expeditionary corps on 1 June 1885 by General Philippe-Marie-Henri Roussel de Courcy (1827–1887), but remained in Tonkin for several months as commander of

10450-437: The troops it has sent to Tonkin, whose garrisons shall be restored to a peacetime footing. Article 5. The Annamese government shall order the mandarins of Tonkin to return to their posts, appoint new officials to the posts presently vacant, and confirm the nominations made by the French authorities once they have been mutually agreed. Article 6. The governors of the provinces lying between the northern frontier of Bình Thuận and

10560-411: The twin challenges in Annam and Tonkin has been memorably characterised in a recent French study of the period: Comme dans un drame shakespearien, des grotesques s’agitent sur le devant de la scène pendant que la tragédie se poursuit dans le sang, sur toute l'étendue du Tonkin ravagé et de l'Annam qui bascule dans la guerre au cours de l'été. (As in a Shakesperian drama, clowns gambolled at the front of

10670-666: The vulnerable coastline of central Vietnam to seize a number of strategic points and to protect Vietnamese Catholic communities in the wake of massacres of Christians by the Vietnamese insurgents at Quảng Ngãi and Bình Định. Meanwhile, Tonkin was in a state of near-anarchy. The Chinese armies that had fought the Sino-French War dutifully withdrew from Tonkin in May and June 1885, but their ranks were by then full of Vietnamese volunteers or conscripts, and these men, unpaid for months, were simply disbanded on Tonkinese soil and left to fend for themselves. They kept their weapons and supported themselves by brigandage, in many cases sheltering behind

10780-492: The way for the eventual French conquest of Tonkin in the 1880s. In 1883, nine years after Francis Garnier's death, the French naval officer Henri Rivière was also killed by the Black Flags in Tonkin, in remarkably similar circumstances. Garnier and Rivière were honoured during the French colonial period as the two pre-eminent French martyrs of the conquest of Tonkin. In 1884, during the Sino-French War , two gunboats of

10890-412: The west gate of Hanoi. A large Vietnamese army followed in their wake. Garnier began shelling the Black Flags with a field piece mounted above the gate, and when they began to fall back he led a party of 18 French marines and sailors out of the city to pursue them, hoping to inflict some decisive blow. The counter-attack failed. Garnier, leading three men uphill in a bayonet attack on a party of Black Flags,

11000-494: The west, Giovanninelli's victory at Hòa Mộc on 2 March allowed the French to consider an offensive from their main base at Hưng Hóa against the Yunnan and Black Flag Armies. Brière de l'Isle drew up plans for an advance up the Red River by Giovanninelli's brigade against the Yunnan Army's positions around Thanh Quan, but simultaneous reverses on both the eastern and western fronts on 24 March (the Battle of Bang Bo (Zhennan Pass) and

11110-688: The youthful traveller when, in 1870, he was presented with the Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society of London – "from Kratié in Cambodia to Shanghai 5392 miles were traversed, and of these, 3625 miles, chiefly of country unknown to European geography, were surveyed with care, and the positions fixed by astronomical observations, nearly the whole of the observations being taken by Garnier himself". A year earlier he received an award to be shared with David Livingstone at

11220-434: Was badly injured and died of his wounds on 20 December. Emboldened by this crushing victory, Garnier and his men soon launched an unsanctioned military campaign that resulted in the conquest of the entire Red River Delta within two weeks. One of his subordinates, 24-year-old ensign Balny d'Avricourt, conquered the citadels of Phu Ly and Hai Duong with only 30 men. On 5 December, 21-year-old aspirant Hautefeuille captured

11330-667: Was born on 25 July 1839 in Saint-Étienne , as the second son of Louis-Alexandre Garnier and Anne Marie Félicité Garnier. In 1855, at 16, he joined the Ecole Navale , much to the dismay of his family who disapproved a military career, deeming it as being dangerous. In early 1860, 20 years old Garnier, then serving as an aspirant on the Duperré during the Second Opium War , jumped into a stormy sea at night to save

11440-516: Was carrying a wagon full of ammunitions to the Fort of Vanves alongside 40 fellow fighters, the convoy came under a brutal rain of Prussian shells. All of the surviving men ran away forsaking their mission, except for Garnier and a man of the National Guard who held on and brought the wagon to destination, just the two of them. Returning to Cochinchina, he found the political circumstances of

11550-613: Was defended by 7,000 soldiers. Completely dumbfounded by the French attack, the defenders performed poorly, and when General Nguyễn Tri Phương was severely injured, their morale completely collapsed. As French troops entered through the southern gates, most of the defenders ran away through the northern gate. In less than an hour, the French had captured the citadel. The only French casualty was one of Dupuis's Chinese mercenaries, who had accidentally been killed by French sailors. Vietnamese casualties however were heavy, as they had lost 80 killed, 300 wounded and 2,000 captured. Nguyễn Tri Phương

11660-412: Was granted the privilege of stationing a resident-general at Huế, who would work to the civil commissioner-general in Tonkin and could require a personal audience with the Vietnamese king, a concession that the Vietnamese had never before been prepared to make (Article 11). To ensure there were no second thoughts, a permanent French garrison would occupy the Thuận An forts and the Đèo Ngang mountain chain on

11770-498: Was killed by a bullet and the other wounded. Garnier cried, 'To me, brave boys, and we'll give them a thrashing!' He then fired the six rounds from his revolver in an attempt to rescue himself, but the bandits surrounded him, pierced him with thrusts of sabres and lances, cut off his head, odiously mutilated his corpse, and ran away. The two other groups, rushing up to the sound of the shooting, were only able to recover his bloodied corpse and bring it back to Hanoi. Despite having killed

11880-461: Was of particular importance to the French, as artillery mounted in its lofty citadel controlled river traffic to the Gulf of Tonkin. Although the Vietnamese governor of Ninh Bình had made no attempt to hinder the passage of the expedition launched by Henri Rivière in March 1883 to capture Nam Định, he was known to be hostile towards the French. Accordingly, Lieutenant-Colonel Pierre de Badens (1847–97)

11990-516: Was sent to occupy Ninh Bình with a company of marine infantry, supported by the gunboats Léopard and Pluvier . Cowed by the silent menace of the gunboats, the Vietnamese handed over the citadel of Ninh Bình without resistance, and the French installed a garrison there. The Treaty of Huế remained a dead letter in Tonkin. Vietnamese mandarins sent to Tonkin to support French administration there were sullen and uncooperative, and Prince Hoang declined to withdraw Vietnamese forces from Tonkin. Meanwhile,

12100-412: Was stabbed and hacked to death by several Black Flag soldiers after stumbling in a watercourse. The youthful enseigne de vaisseau Adrien Balny d'Avricourt led an equally small column out of the citadel to support Garnier, but was also killed at the head of his men. Three French sailors were also killed in these sorties, and the others fled back to the citadel after their officers fell. Colonel Thomazi,

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