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80-670: In March 1882, on the eve of Commandant Henri Rivière 's seizure of the citadel of Hanoi, France had two naval divisions in the Far East. The seas to the east of the Hainan Strait were the responsibility of Rear Admiral Charles Meyer's Far East naval division ( division navale de l'Extrême-Orient ). France's interests in Indochina were protected by Rivière's Cochinchina naval division ( division navale de Cochinchine ), responsible for monitoring coastal navigation between Singapore and

160-527: A battalion of Tonkinese riflemen and three artillery batteries: The strengths of the infantry battalions varied considerably, depending on how long they had been in Tonkin. The battalions which had served longest in the Tonkin campaign could only with difficulty field as many as 500 men, while Schoeffer and Comoy's recently arrived battalions could put 800 rifles into line. Shortly after midnight on 2 February

240-622: A campaign against Lạng Sơn had been underway for several months, and Brière de l'Isle had already assembled large French forces at the French forward base of Chu (now in Bắc Giang Province ) on the Luc Nam River, which had been occupied by the French in the wake of the Kep campaign (October 1884). On 3 and 4 January 1885, General de Négrier attacked and defeated a substantial detachment of

320-522: A dozen gunboats of the Arquebuse class were produced for use in both Tonkin and Madagascar. The gunboats of the former class were named after the French officers who had been killed or mortally wounded in action in Tonkin in Francis Garnier and Henri Rivière's campaigns: Francis Garnier , Colonel Carreau , Henri Rivière , Berthe de Villers , Jacquin and Moulun . The gunboats, built at

400-830: A dû repasser, entièrement en déroute, la frontière, laissant entre vos mains ses étendards, ses armes et ses munitions. Elle a été réduite à vous abandonner ou à disperser dans les montagnes le matériel européen sur lequel elle avait tant compté pour s’opposer à notre marche. Gloire à vous tous qui successivement vous êtes mesurés avec elle dans les combats du 4 à Thay-Hoa, du 5 à Ha-Hoa, du 6 à Dong-Song, du 9 à Deo-Quao, du 11 à Pho-Vy, du 12 à Bac-Viay, du 13 à Lang-Son, et l'avez chassée, malgré sa vigoureuse résistance, des positions formidables qu’elle occupait! Honneur aussi aux officiers chargés de la conduite des convois de vivres et de munitions! C’est grâce à leur dévouement et à leur infatigable énergie que vous avez pu vivre et que nos progrès n’ont pas été retardés plus longtemps. (You have hoisted

480-809: A funeral service was said over them by Paul-François Puginier, the French apostolic vicar of Western Tonkin. Ten years earlier Puginier had performed a similar office over the body of Francis Garnier , who had died in remarkably similar circumstances. The remains were subsequently returned to France at the request of Rivière's family. They were finally buried in the Cimetière de Montmartre , in Paris . Lang Son Campaign [REDACTED]   France Tay Hoa: 18 dead, 101 wounded Ha Hoa: 4 dead, 18 wounded Dong Song: 3 dead, 41 wounded Pho Vy: 1 dead, 23 wounded Bac Vie: 30 dead, 188 wounded Vietnam Taiwan The Lạng Sơn campaign (3 to 13 February 1885)

560-601: A month to complete their preparations for the campaign, but by the end of January 1885, Brière de l'Isle had assembled an expeditionary column of just under 7,200 troops, accompanied by 4,500 coolies, at Chu. The Lạng Sơn expeditionary column ( colonne expéditionnaire de Lang-Son ) was organised around the two brigades originally established by General Millot in January 1885. Each brigade contained two marching regiments ( régiments de marche ), each of two or three battalions, with supporting artillery and Tonkinese skirmishers , and

640-405: A number of steam launches and tugs that were used to tow strings of junks loaded with men, ammunition or food. Contemporary French sources mention the vessels Haiphong , Pélican , Kowloon , Whampoo , Ruri Maru , Cua Cam , Cua Lac , Cua Dai , Phu Ly and Tra Ly . Just as French transports were often named after French rivers, these small river craft for use in Tonkin tended to be named after

720-523: A powerful punch. Two other gunboats of the Arquebuse class, Casse-tête and Estoc , joined the Tonkin flotilla in early 1885. They differed from the earlier models in having two masts, each with a Hotchkiss station. In February 1885, on the eve of the Lang Son Campaign , the Flotilla also included the gunboats Hyène , Jaguar , Nagotna and Petit Haiphong . The Flotilla also deployed

800-638: A sortie by the French garrison of Nam Định in July 1883 that inflicted a serious defeat on besieging Vietnamese forces under the command of Prince Hoàng Kế Viêm. The gunboats Pluvier , Léopard , Fanfare , Éclair , Mousqueton and Trombe took part in the Battle of Phủ Hoài (15 August 1883). The gunboats Pluvier , Léopard , Fanfare , Éclair , Hache and Mousqueton took part in the Battle of Palan (1 September 1883). The gunboats Pluvier , Trombe , Éclair , Hache , Mousqueton and Yatagan took part in

880-528: A strong signal to the French that China would not allow Tonkin to fall under French control. In the summer of 1882 troops of the Chinese Yunnan and Guangxi armies crossed the border into Tonkin, occupying Lang Son, Bac Ninh, Hung Hoa and other towns. The French minister to China, Frédéric Bourée, was so alarmed by the prospect of war with China that in November and December 1882 he negotiated a deal with

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960-487: A total of 1 dead and 23 wounded. The culminating battle for Lạng Sơn was fought on 12 February at Bac Vie, several kilometres to the south of Lạng Sơn. Giovanninelli's 1st Brigade was leading the French column, and de Négrier's 2nd Brigade took little part in the battle. In a costly but successful assault, Giovanninelli's Turcos and marine infantry stormed the Chinese defences. The battle was fought in thick fog, allowing

1040-529: The Académie française . Although Rivière spent most of his adult life as a naval officer, he was also ambitious for literary distinction. He was a journalist for La Liberté , and also had articles published in the Revue des deux mondes . At the end of 1881 Rivière was sent with a small French military force to Hanoi to investigate Vietnamese complaints against the activities of French merchants. In defiance of

1120-730: The Franco-Austrian War (1859). In 1866 he took part in the Mexican campaign aboard Rhône and Brandon . He was promoted to the rank of capitaine de frégate in June 1870 and served as second officer on the ironclad corvette Thétis with the French Baltic Squadron during the Franco-Prussian War . He saw no active service in any of these campaigns. Rivière's role in the suppression of a revolt in

1200-594: The Mediterranean squadron aboard Iéna (1850), Labrador (1851) and Jupiter (1852–54). Significantly, his confidential reports from this period mentioned that he seemed to be unduly interested in poetry and literature. Rivière took part in the Crimean campaign (1854–56), serving on the vessels Uranie , Suffren , Bourrasque and Montebello . Promoted to the rank of lieutenant de vaisseau in November 1856, he served aboard Reine Hortense during

1280-511: The Siege of Tuyên Quang . Before his departure he ordered General de Négrier, who would remain at Lạng Sơn with the 2nd Brigade, to press on towards the Chinese border and expel the battered remnants of the Guangxi Army from Tonkinese soil. After resupplying the 2nd Brigade with food and ammunition, De Négrier advanced to attack the Guangxi Army at Dong Dang. On 23 February de Négrier stormed

1360-728: The Sơn Tây Campaign (December 1883). The Tonkin Flotilla played a decisive strategic role in General François de Négrier 's Kep Campaign (October 1884), in which the French defeated a major Chinese invasion of the Tonkin Delta. In late September 1884 large detachments of the Guangxi Army advanced from Lạng Sơn and probed into the Luc Nam valley. On 2 October the French gunboats Hache and Massue , on patrol in

1440-691: The École Navale in October 1842. He passed out as a midshipman (second class) in August 1845, and saw his first naval service in the Pacific Ocean on Brillante . In February 1847 he was posted to the South Seas naval division , to Virginie . He was promoted to midshipman (first class) in September 1847 and to enseigne de vaisseau in September 1849. During the next five years he served in

1520-404: The 2nd Brigade, at the head of the French column, contacted advance elements of the Guangxi Army at Pho Vy. The Chinese were ejected from the village of Pho Vy by Herbinger's three French battalions with little difficulty, but they brought up their reserves and mounted a counterattack against Herbinger's regiment which forced de Negrier to commit Diguet's Legion battalion to drive them off. Towards

1600-473: The Black Flag stronghold of Phu Hoai. On 18 September 1883, acting on information received from Vietnamese informants, the French scouted the area with two battalions of marine infantry. Rivière's severed head and hands, buried in a lacquered box, were discovered in the village of Kien Mai, and three weeks later the mutilated body of a European, dressed in naval uniform, was found close to Paper Bridge, near

1680-521: The Chinese army's left wing at Chu while de Négrier concentrated against the Chinese forces at Kép. During October and November 1884 the Farcy gunboats Revolver and Mitrailleuse , based at Tuyên Quang, and the gunboats Bourrasque , Éclair , Mutine and Trombe , operating out of Hưng Hóa, mounted a number of dangerous supply runs along the Clear River between Hưng Hóa and Tuyên Quang in support of

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1760-466: The Chinese defences at Dong Dang, forcing the Chinese to retreat towards the Chinese border town of Longzhou (Lung-chou, 龍州). After clearing the Chinese from Tonkinese territory the French crossed briefly into Guangxi province and on 25 February blew up the 'Gate of China', an elaborate Chinese customs building on the border at Zhennan Pass (Zhennanguan). They were not strong enough to exploit this victory, however, and de Négrier returned to Lạng Sơn with

1840-461: The Chinese statesman Li Hongzhang to divide Tonkin into French and Chinese spheres of influence. The Vietnamese were not consulted by either party to these negotiations. Rivière was disgusted at the deal cut by Bourée, and in early 1883 decided to force the issue. He had recently been sent a battalion of marine infantry from France, giving him just enough men to venture beyond Hanoi. On 27 March 1883, to secure his line of communications from Hanoi to

1920-522: The Chinese threat. The French used the mobility conferred by their gunboats to move men and supplies between Phu Lang Thuong and the Luc Nam, enabling de Négrier to concentrate his forces rapidly and defeat the two widely separated wings of the Chinese Guangxi Army one after the other. Hache , Éclair and Massue , accompanied by the tugs Phủ Lý and Tra Ly and the barge Cua Dai , landed Donnier's column at Lam on 6 October, threatening

2000-519: The Chinese to mount a dangerous counterattack at one point that nearly swept away part of Giovanninelli's brigade. Eventually the French broke through the Chinese centre, and the isolated Chinese wings retreated in disorder back to Lạng Sơn. French casualties at Bac Vie were 30 dead and 188 wounded, the highest casualties of the campaign. Most of these casualties were sustained by the two Turco battalions in Giovanninelli's brigade, which had borne

2080-812: The Claparède works in Lorient, reached Haiphong in the autumn of 1884. The Arquebuse class of gunboats was designed for more general service, in Madagascar as well as Tonkin. Six vessels in this class ( Arquebuse , Alerte , Avalanche , Bourrasque , Mutine and Rafale ) were deployed in Tonkin in the summer of 1884. These 70 horsepower (52 kW) gunboats were 30 metres long and 5 metres wide, cruised at 8 knots (15 km/h), and drew less than one-and-a-half metres of water. Although they could carry only 60 men, they were armed with two 90-millimetre cannon and three Hotchkiss canons-revolvers , so that they packed

2160-749: The Delta against the Black Flag Army and the Chinese Guangxi and Yunnan Armies. The gunboats Carabine , Fanfare , Hache , Pluvier , Surprise and Yatagan took part in Henri Rivière 's Nam Định expedition in March 1883 and supported the French infantry attack on the Nam Định defences on 27 March with a preliminary bombardment on 26 March. The gunboat Song Cau (or Song Coi ) took part in

2240-573: The French Army; you have added a fine page to our national history. Honour to your officers and to yourselves! You are approaching the end of your task. Battles, privations and fatigues still await you. But your military virtues, of which you have already given such sterling proofs, guarantee your future success.) The second order of the day, issued on 14 February, marked the capture of Lạng Sơn: Vous avez arboré le drapeau français sur Lang-Son. Une armée chinoise dix fois plus nombreuse que vous

2320-507: The French colony of New Caledonia in the late 1870s won him promotion to the coveted rank of capitaine de vaisseau in January 1880. In November 1881 Rivière was posted to Saigon , as commander of the Cochin China naval division. The posting was generally regarded as a backwater that offered few opportunities for distinction. Rivière himself saw it as an opportunity to write a literary masterpiece that would procure him membership of

2400-465: The French flag above Lạng Sơn. A Chinese army ten times your numbers has had to recross the frontier in complete rout, leaving in your hands its standards, its arms and its ammunition. It has been forced to abandon to you or to disperse in the mountains the European equipment on which it had so heavily relied to block our march. Glory to all of you who successfully measured yourselves with this army in

2480-458: The French outposts on the mountain of Deo Quao on 9 February. The French units on Deo Quao easily repelled this attack, but the diversion allowed the Guangxi Army to regroup and make a final stand in front of Lạng Sơn. After a pause for breath at Dong Song to resupply with food and ammunition and to establish a shorter supply line back to Chu across the mountain of Deo Quan, the Tonkin expeditionary corps pressed on towards Lạng Sơn. On 11 February

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2560-514: The French rearguard. Several French officers were wounded at this critical moment, and in the confusion of the retreat Rivière's body was abandoned on the battlefield. He was immediately presumed dead by his fellow officers. If he had not already died from the effects of his wound, he would have been killed as soon as the Black Flags discovered who he was. Although the Battle of Paper Bridge

2640-515: The French to battle in a taunting message on placards that were widely distributed on the walls of Hanoi. On 19 May Rivière marched out of Hanoi to attack the Black Flags. His small force (around 450 men) advanced without proper precautions, and blundered into a well-prepared Black Flag ambush at Paper Bridge (Pont de Papier), a few miles to the west of Hanoi. In the Battle of Paper Bridge the French were enveloped on both wings, and were only with difficulty able to regroup and fall back to Hanoi. Towards

2720-464: The Guangxi Army that had concentrated around the nearby village of Núi Bop to try to disrupt the French preparations. De Nègrier's victory at Núi Bop, won at odds of just under one to ten, was regarded by his fellow-officers as the most spectacular professional triumph of his career. Logistical arrangements for the Lạng Sơn campaign were formidable. It would take the column around ten days to advance to

2800-514: The Hainan Strait and along the rivers of Cochinchina and Cambodia. Several vessels under Rivière 's command were normally stationed in Cochinchina or Cambodia, including the troopship Drac , the light frigate Alouette and the small gunboats Framée and Javeline . Tilsitt , the flagship of the Cochinchina naval division, was disarmed and in permanent dock at Saigon, and served as the division's storehouse and administrative centre. Most of

2880-567: The Luc Nam river, were ambushed from the riverbank by a strong force of Chinese infantry. A third gunboat, Mousqueton , came to the rescue, and the three French vessels escaped downriver to the French post at Sept Pagodes . Although the French suffered heavy casualties in this ambush ( lieutenant de vaisseau Challier of Massue was killed and 32 sailors and soldiers were wounded), the Guangxi Army had disclosed its presence prematurely. Back in Hanoi, General Louis Brière de l'Isle reacted swiftly to

2960-477: The Red and Clear Rivers and put them ashore near the French post of Phu Doan on the Clear River, fifty kilometres southwest of Tuyên Quang. Giovanninelli had hoped to have their support when he attacked an important Chinese blocking position at Hòa Mộc, but the water level in the Clear River was so low that the gunboats grounded several kilometres above Phu Doan. Their crews endured a week of back-breaking labour, hauling

3040-585: The Song Thuong valley, away from Lạng Sơn, but most of the Chinese troops fell back up the Dong Song valley to Pho Bu, where they could make a further stand for Lạng Sơn. The capture of Dong Song threatened the supply line of the Guangxi Army's right wing at Bắc Lệ, and the Chinese hastily pulled back from Bắc Lệ and retreated up the Mandarin Road to Thanh Moy. To cover their retreat they attacked

3120-612: The Tonkin Flotilla. In April 1884 the Farcy gunboats Revolver and Mitrailleuse , both of which had seen service on the Seine during the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1), arrived in Tonkin. The two gunboats were transported to Tonkin lashed to the bridge of the troopship Bien Hoa , and re-floating them on their arrival at Haiphong was a technical task of considerable complexity. In October 1883 Admiral Courbet asked

3200-541: The Vietnamese government, and ended a remarkable series of French victories against the Vietnamese by defeating Garnier's small French force beneath the walls of Hanoi. Garnier was killed in this battle, and the French government later disavowed his expedition. The Vietnamese also bid for Chinese support. Vietnam had long been a tributary of China, and China agreed to arm and support the Black Flags and to covertly oppose French operations in Tonkin. The Qing court also sent

3280-575: The actions of the 4th at Tay Hoa, the 5th at Ha Hoa, the 6th at Dong Song, the 9th at Deo Quao, the 11th at Pho Vy, the 12th at Bac Vie and the 13th at Lạng Sơn, and chased it, despite its vigorous resistance, from the formidable positions which it occupied! Honour also to the officers charged with bringing up the food and ammunition trains. It is thanks to their devotion and indefatigable energy that you have been able to eat, and that our advances were not longer delayed.) On 16 February Brière de l'Isle left Lạng Sơn with Giovanninelli's 1st Brigade to relieve

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3360-425: The battle, and French casualties were relatively low: 4 dead and 18 wounded. On 6 February the French fought a morning action to clear the Chinese from their last defences before Dong Song, and took possession of the entrenched camp of Dong Song in the afternoon. French casualties in this action were 3 dead and 41 wounded. Brière de l'Isle had been hoping to push the Chinese back across the mountain of Deo Quao into

3440-449: The battlefield of Paper Bridge. Liu Yongfu had offered a substantial bounty for the heads of French officers, graded according to their rank, and it seems likely that a Black Flag soldier had killed the wounded French commander and then decapitated him in order to claim the bounty, cutting off his hands so that his rank could be verified by the number of bands ( galons ) on his tunic cuffs. Rivière's remains were brought back to Hanoi, where

3520-538: The brunt of the battle. Chef d'escadron Levrard, the 1st Brigade's artillery commander, was shot dead during the battle, and Brière de l'Isle's officier d'ordonnance 2nd Lieutenant Bossant, the son of a senior French general, was killed at Brière de l'Isle's side. On 13 February the French column entered Lạng Sơn, which the Chinese abandoned after fighting a token rearguard action at the nearby village of Ky Lua. In compliment to their performance at Bac Vie, Brière de l'Isle gave Giovanninelli's Turcos and marine infantry

3600-467: The coast, Rivière captured the citadel of Nam Dinh with a force of 520 French soldiers under his personal command. During his absence at Nam Dinh the Black Flags and Vietnamese made an attack on Hanoi, but they were repulsed by chef de bataillon Berthe de Villers in the Battle of Gia Cuc on 28 March. Rivière was jubilant: 'This will force them to take forward their Tonkin Question!' Rivière's timing

3680-439: The command of général de brigade Alexandre-Eugène Bouët (1833–87), the French commandant supérieur in Tonkin. Operational command was given to capitaine de vaisseau Morel-Beaulieu. The Tonkin Flotilla consisted initially of the light frigates ( avisos à roues ) Pluvier and Alouette , the seagoing gunboats Fanfare , Léopard and Surprise , the large river gunboats ( avisos de flotille à roues ) Éclair and Trombe , and

3760-453: The command of Admiral Amédée Courbet , whose mission was to cut off the flow of weapons and ammunition from China to the Black Flag Army by blockading the Gulf of Tonkin. The larger seagoing vessels already on station in Tonkin were transferred to Courbet's new naval division, while the remainder (mostly gunboats) were organised into the 'Tonkin Flotilla'. The flotilla was initially placed under

3840-403: The despatch of a strong expeditionary corps to Tonkin. Rivière's adventure in Tonkin set in train a course of events that, within a few years, saw French rule extended beyond Cochinchina to the whole of Indochina. The French had been forced to leave Rivière's body on the battlefield of Paper Bridge, and for several months were unsure of the precise circumstances of his death. After being shot in

3920-499: The division's vessels, however, were stationed in Tonkin, where they were enforcing the right of free navigation on the Red River conceded to France by the Vietnamese government in 1874. Rivière's command in Tonkin consisted of the light frigates Hamelin , Parseval and Antilope (the latter due to be replaced shortly by Pluvier ), the heavy gunboats Lynx and Vipère , the seagoing gunboats Fanfare , Léopard and Surprise , and

4000-423: The end of the battle a French cannon overturned with the shock of its recoil, and Rivière and his officers rushed forward to help the gunners to right it. The Black Flags fired a volley into this struggling mass of men, killing one French officer and seriously wounding Rivière in the shoulder. Several seconds later, Rivière collapsed. Seeing the French line in confusion, the Black Flags surged forward and drove back

4080-408: The end of the battle the 111th Battalion stormed a Chinese hill position under the eyes of the rest of the brigade. 2nd Lieutenant Rene Normand, who fell a month later in the Battle of Bang Bo and whose letters from Tonkin were published after his death, distinguished himself in this action. Towards evening the Chinese fell back on their main body at Bac Vie. French casualties at Pho Vy were slight:

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4160-448: The expeditionary corps set off from Chu, with de Négrier's 2nd Brigade leading the way, and advanced over the mountain of Deo Van to Cao Nhiat without meeting any enemy resistance. At Cao Nhiat the French captured an important Chinese rice dump, easing their supply difficulties. On 4 February the expeditionary corps fought its first action with the Chinese, at Tay Hoa. The battle was fought almost wholly by de Négrier's 2nd Brigade, which

4240-460: The fort instead. The legionnaires scrambled rapidly up the mountain paths towards the Chinese position and captured it under Herbinger's nose. Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, Captain Gravereau's company of Diguet's 2nd Legion Battalion was isolated and surrounded by the Chinese. The company was eventually disengaged by its comrades, but suffered heavy losses. Although the battle

4320-419: The gunboats along an almost-dry river bed, but despite their utmost efforts the gunboats were absent from the Battle of Hòa Mộc on 2 March. Some of the French crewmen were said to have wept with rage at their inability to take part in the crucial battle for Tuyên Quang. The gunboats finally reached Tuyên Quang on 4 March, the day after the post was relieved. General Brière de l'Isle was careful to acknowledge

4400-544: The hapless French minister. They also made it clear to the Chinese that they were determined to place Tonkin under French protection. In April 1883, realising that the Vietnamese were incapable of resisting the French effectively, the Chinese civil mandarin Tang Jingsong ( Tang Jingsong , 唐景崧) persuaded Liu Yongfu to take the field against Rivière with the Black Flag Army . On 10 May 1883 Liu Yongfu challenged

4480-422: The help of Liu Yongfu , whose well-trained and seasoned Black Flag soldiers were to prove a thorn in the side of the French. The Black Flags had already inflicted one humiliating defeat on a French force commanded by lieutenant de vaisseau Francis Garnier in 1873. Like Rivière in 1882, Garnier had exceeded his instructions and attempted to intervene militarily in northern Vietnam. Liu Yongfu had been called in by

4560-908: The heroic efforts made by their captains and crews in an order of the day issued on 5 March. After praising the courage of the marine infantry and Turcos of the 1st Brigade, who suffered more than 400 casualties storming the Chinese defences at Hòa Mộc, he praised the sacrifices made by the men of the Flotilla: Vous avez été plus heureux que les états-majors et les équipages des canonnières Henri Rivière , Berthe de Villers , Moulun , Éclair et Trombe , qui ont espéré jusqu’au dernier moment partager vos dangers. Au prix d'efforts inouïs, ils ont trainé leurs bâtiments pendant sept jours consécutifs dans une rivière sans eau et ont pu atteindre Phu-Doan, Yu-oc et les abords de Tuyen-Quan. Ils ont ainsi prouvé que des obstacles considérés jusqu’alors comme insurmontables n’existaient pas pour eux. (You were luckier than

4640-1441: The honour of leading the French entry into Lạng Sơn. The Guangxi Army fell back towards the Chinese border and occupied a strong defensive position at Dong Dang, a small town just in Tonkinese territory. Brière de l'Isle issued two orders of the day during the Lạng Sơn campaign. The first, issued on 7 February, marked the capture of the Chinese entrenched camp of Dong Song: Les formidables camps retranchés de Ha-Hoa et de Dong-Song sont entre vos mains avec d'immenses approvisionnements d'armes, de munitions et de vivres que votre élan n’a pas permis à l'ennemi d'emporter. Pendant les combats des 4, 5 et 6 février, qui vous ont rendus maîtres de ces admirables positions sur lesquelles l'armée chinoise avait compté pour nous barrer les débouchés du Deo-Van et du Deo-Quan et nous interdire les routes du Than-Moï et de Lang-Son, vous avez égalé les troupes les plus citées dans les annales de l'armée française. Vous avez ajouté une belle page à notre histoire nationale. Honneur à vos chefs et à vous! Vous approchez du terme de votre mission. Des combats, des privations et des fatigues vous attendent encore. Les vertus militaires, dont vous avez déjà donné tant de preuves, garantissent le succès de l'avenir. (The formidable entrenched camps of Ha Hoa and Dong Song are in your hands, with their huge supplies of weapons, ammunition and provisions, which

4720-436: The instructions of his superiors, he stormed the citadel of Hanoi on 25 April 1882 in a few hours, with the governor Hoàng Diệu committing suicide having sent a note of apology to the emperor. Although Rivière subsequently returned the citadel to Vietnamese control, his recourse to force was greeted with alarm in both Vietnam and China. The Vietnamese government, unable to confront Rivière with its own ramshackle army, enlisted

4800-411: The left, overran a number of Chinese forts before their defenders could escape, and wiped out the garrisons by blowing in the roofs with dynamite. The 2nd Brigade, on the right, captured the principal Chinese work of Pins Parasols, so named because it had been built around a conspicuous clump of umbrella pines. The speed of the French attacks, prepared by artillery, kept the Chinese off balance throughout

4880-438: The navy ministry to design a new class of shallow-draft gunboats which could penetrate the maze of shallow tributary streams and arroyos of the Delta, so that the Black Flags and pirates could be hunted down far more effectively. The ministry accepted his recommendations, and laid down two new classes of gunboats. Eight gunboats of the Henri Rivière class were designed and built specifically for service in Tonkin, while more than

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4960-548: The officers and the crews of the gunboats Henri Rivière , Berthe de Villers , Moulun , Éclair and Trombe , who had hoped right up to the last moment to share your dangers. At the cost of unimaginable efforts they dragged their vessels for seven consecutive days up a waterless river and succeeded in reaching Phu Doan, Yu Oc and the approaches to Tuyên Quang. They thus demonstrated that obstacles hitherto supposed insurmountable did not exist for them.) Henri Rivi%C3%A8re (naval officer) Henri Laurent Rivière (1827–1883)

5040-459: The outskirts of Lạng Sơn. The troops would be burdened with the weight of their provisions and equipment, and would have to march through an extremely difficult country. The nights, in Tonkin in February, would be bitterly cold. Supplying the column with food and ammunition would tax the ingenuity of the marine infantry officers responsible for the mule trains and the coolies. It took the French

5120-448: The shoulder Rivière had fallen, then risen to his feet, then collapsed again. His recumbent body had been last seen surrounded by a knot of Black Flag soldiers. Most of Rivière's fellow officers naturally assumed that he had been either shot or stabbed to death on the battlefield there and then, but many Vietnamese believed that he had been taken alive by the Black Flags. According to a Vietnamese soldier who claimed to have been present at

5200-567: The small French garrison at Tuyên Quang. The supply runs were successful, but the French suffered a constant dribble of casualties as their gunboats were engaged by the Black Flags. On one occasion Revolver had to steam at full speed to break a barrage laid across the Clear River, and on another occasion her crew sustained casualties of 2 men dead and 3 wounded (including the commander, enseigne de vaisseau de Balincourt) from enemy fire from Yu Oc. In an engagement on 12 November 1884 Trombe suffered casualties of 1 man dead and 7 wounded. Revolver

5280-515: The smaller river gunboats Carabine , Éclair , Hache , Massue , Trombe and Yatagan . The heavy gunboats had crews of 77 men and mounted four cannon, while the smaller gunboats had two cannon each. They all carried a Hotchkiss canon-revolver in their tops. Following Rivière 's defeat and death at the Battle of Paper Bridge (19 June 1883), the navy ministry created a new Tonkin Coasts naval division ( division navale des côtes du Tonkin ) under

5360-412: The smaller river gunboats ( chaloupes-cannonières démontables ) Carabine , Hache , Massue and Yatagan . Alouette was normally stationed in Cochinchina, and does not seem to have seen service in Tonkin. The stationary pontoon Tilsitt at Saigon and the small river gunboats Framée , Javeline and Mousqueton , normally stationed in Cochinchina, were also placed under the orders of the commander of

5440-399: The speed of your attack prevented the enemy from carrying off. During the actions of 4, 5 and 6 February, which have made us masters of these admirable positions which the Chinese army had counted on to bar us from the passes of Deo Van and Deo Quan and to prevent us from reaching the routes to Thanh Moy and Lạng Sơn, you have matched the exploits of the troops most often cited in the annals of

5520-408: The spot where Rivière had fallen on 19 May. The body had been gashed with sword slashes, the head and the hands were missing, and the sleeves of the naval tunic had been cut away to remove the marks of rank. Several French naval officers who knew Rivière well were able to confirm that the body was indeed his. These circumstances strongly suggested that Rivière had been killed in the heat of battle, on

5600-402: The time, Rivière had been brought into Liu Yongfu's presence shortly after the battle ended and had been beheaded on the orders of the Black Flag leader, one of whose close friends had been killed by the French during the battle. Neither version of his death could be confirmed. Several weeks after the battle the French heard rumours that Rivière's body had been savagely mutilated and buried near

5680-561: The watercourses of the Tonkin Delta. By 1886 the Flotilla included the gunboats Levrard , Bossant and Cuvellier , named after three French officers killed in action in Tonkin during the Sino-French War. Besides policing the inland waterways of Tonkin, the vessels of the Tonkin Flotilla were also used in close support of the movements of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps , and took part in several actions in

5760-490: Was a French naval officer and a writer who is chiefly remembered today for advancing the French conquest of Tonkin ( northern Vietnam ) in the 1880s. Rivière's seizure of the citadel of Hanoi in April 1882 inaugurated a period of undeclared hostilities between France and Dai Nam (as Vietnam was known then) that culminated one year later in the Tonkin campaign (1883–1886). Born in Paris on 12 July 1827, Rivière entered

5840-606: Was a major French offensive in Tonkin (northern Vietnam) during the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885). The Tonkin Expeditionary Corps , under the command of General Louis Brière de l'Isle , defeated the Chinese Guangxi Army and captured the strategically important town of Lạng Sơn in a ten-day campaign mounted under formidable logistical constraints. French strategy in Tonkin

5920-405: Was a serious defeat for the French, it strengthened the resolve of Jules Ferry 's administration to entrench the French protectorate in Tonkin. The news of Rivière's defeat and death reached Paris on 26 May, and the French navy minister Admiral Peyron declared 'France will avenge her glorious children!' The Chamber of Deputies immediately voted a credit of three and a half million francs to finance

6000-489: Was accompanied by field hospital and engineering detachments. Giovanninelli's 1st Brigade consisted of a two-battalion marine infantry regiment, a two-battalion regiment of Algerian riflemen (Turcos), a battalion of Tonkinese riflemen and three artillery batteries. De Négrier's 2nd Brigade consisted of a 'French' regiment of three line infantry battalions from the metropolitan army, an 'Algerian' regiment of two Foreign Legion battalions and one battalion of African Light Infantry,

6080-461: Was eventually withdrawn from Tuyên Quang, but Mitrailleuse remained on station, and later distinguished herself in the Siege of Tuyên Quang (24 November 1884 – 3 March 1885). The Tonkin Flotilla played an important role in the relief of Tuyên Quang. In late February 1885 the gunboats Henri Rivière , Berthe de Villers , Moulun , Éclair and Trombe transported 2,400 soldiers of Lieutenant-Colonel Laurent Giovanninelli's 1st Brigade from Hanoi up

6160-539: Was indisputably a French victory, French casualties were disconcertingly heavy: 18 dead and 101 wounded, most of them in Diguet and Schoeffer's Legion battalions. These were the heaviest casualties the French had suffered in a single engagement since the start of the Sino-French War. On 5 February the French assaulted the main complex of forts defending the Chinese entrenched camp at Dong Song, around Ha Hoa. The two French brigades attacked side by side. The 1st Brigade, on

6240-603: Was leading the march, and demonstrated the unfitness for field command of Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Gustave Herbinger, the French commander who would in late March 1885 give the controversial order for the Retreat from Lạng Sơn . Ordered to capture the 'Great Fort', the key to the Chinese position, with his three French line battalions, Herbinger made an elaborate flank march which exhausted his troops and wasted valuable time. At length, seeing his operational timetable threatened, de Négrier ordered Schoeffer's 3rd Legion Battalion to take

6320-490: Was perfect. He had expected to be cashiered for his Capture of Nam Dinh , but instead he found himself the hero of the hour. There had recently been a change of government in France, and the new administration of Jules Ferry was strongly in favour of colonial expansion. It therefore decided to back Rivière up. Ferry and his foreign minister Paul-Armand Challemel-Lacour denounced Bourée's agreement with Li Hongzhang and recalled

6400-699: Was the subject of a bitter debate in the Chamber of Deputies in late December 1884. The army minister General Jean-Baptiste-Marie Campenon argued that the French should consolidate their hold on the Delta . His opponents urged an all-out offensive to throw the Chinese out of northern Tonkin. The debate culminated in Campenon's resignation and his replacement as army minister by the hawkish General Jules Lewal . On 5 January 1885 Lewal ordered Brière de l'Isle to 'capture Lạng Sơn as soon as possible'. Long-range planning for

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