Frencj attack Saigon - holylandvietnamstudies.com

WHAT WAY did France take over Vietnam in 1857? – Section 2

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**III. THE DISASTER AT KỲ HÒA AND THE RAMPANT PARTISAN WAR IN THE SOUTH (1861–1862)**

After the Fall of Beijing and the end of the Second Opium War in China, the French government of Emperor Napoleon III (1808–1873)^[19]decided to continue the “l’expédition de Cochinchine” or the conquest of Southern Vietnam. On February 1861, under the supreme command of the French Admiral Léonard Charner (1797–1869)^[20], a large reinforcement of French forces in the Far East were moved to Saigon, which mostly consisted of very experienced veterans of the Chinese battlefield. According to the French officer Léopold Pallu de la Barrière (1828–1891)^[21], their forces for the conquest of Southern Vietnam were^[22]:

Original French text:

“…en tout 70 navires de guerre, dont 14 à voiles et 56 à vapeur. Sept navires loués à la Compagnie péninsulaire et orientale servaient à assurer les communications sur une si grande étendue de côtes. 4 officiers-généraux, 13 capitaines de vaisseau, 22 capitaines de frégate, 95 lieutenans de vaisseau, 105 enseignes, environ 100 aspirans, 100 médecins, 100 officiers d’administration, 8,000 marins, composaient le personnel. L’artillerie s’élevait à 474 bouches à feu, la force nominale des machines à 7,866 chevaux-vapeur…”

English translation:

“… there is a total of 70 warships, 14 of which are sailing ships and 56 are steamships. Seven ships released by the Peninsular and Eastern Company were used for communications along the large stretch of the coast. 4 General officers, 13 captains of ships, 22 captains of frigates, 95 lieutenants of ships, 105 signs, about 100 aspirants, 100 doctors, 100 administrative officers, 8,000 sailors, composed the personnel. The artillery amounted to 474 guns, the nominal force of 7,866 horsepower machines … “

Unlike the year of 1858, with just 14 French warships for the attack of Tourane. In 1861, there were 70 warships of all kinds participated in the Cochinchina Campaign. Some of these French warships were truly gigantic and superior than what the Vietnamese had at that time, for example, the Frigate la Persévérante, was fully armed with more than 60 cannons and the crews of 513 manpower^[23]^[24].

Moreover, the French also recruited more than 600 Chinese mercenaries and coolies who were willing to fight under the banner of Second French Empire^[27].

Finally, the day of disaster came on 24 February 1861 during the Battle of Kỳ Hòa^[28], when the whole Vietnamese defensive lines which had built around Saigon for two years were subsequently collapsed under the attacks of 4,000 to 5,000 French troops with the assistance of hundreds artillery pieces and 50 warships^[29]. It was truly a bloody battle for both sides. The first day of the battle costed the French and Spanish 6 killed and 30 wounded^[30]. Among the wounded were high-ranking officers such as French General Élie de Vassoigne (1811–1891)^[31]and Spanish Colonel Carlos Palanca Gutierrez (1819-1876)^[32]. The next day witnessed the destruction of Kỳ Hòa defensive line, together with the dead of 12 French soldiers and marines, while 225 were wounded. The Vietnamese casualties were much more enormous with around 1,000 died and wounded, including Marshal Nguyễn Tri Phương.

Like the flood after the breaking of the dam, only one year after the Fall of Kỳ Hòa (February 1861 – February 1862), all the provincial cities of Gia Định, Định Tường and Biên Hòa were subsequently captured by the Franco-Spanish forces. The French organized a system of “mobile posts” in the occupied areas, with the small and medium ships for riverine warfare such as the “canonnière” (gunships) ^[34], the “chaloupe canonnière” (gunboats) and the Portugese-type of military “lorchas”^[35]. They were perfectly fitted to the terrain and rivers in Southern Vietnam. For example, in 1861–1862 the French gunship l’Alarme stayed along the Vaico river (Vàm Cỏ) ^[36], in charge of defense from Tây Ninh to Long An.

While the Nguyễn Dynasty retreated and retreated in chaos, a lot of Vietnamese peasants and militias arose and decisively fought against the French troops everywhere. The supreme Vietnamese partisan leader at that time was Marshal Trương Định (張定, 1820–1864)^[38]. Under the banner of Marshal Trương Định, a lot of talented military leaders such as Nguyễn Trung Trực (阮忠直, 1838–1868) fought heroically against the French^[39]. On December 1861, his troops and himself personally burnt down the French military lorcha l’Espérance in Nhựt Tảo River, an event which claimed the lives of 17 French and Tagal soldiers as well as 20 Vietnamese collaborators. In 1862, the situation even turned out badly to the Franco-Spanish occupational forces, when typhus and other types of maladies claimed the lives of several hundred men. The areas from Gò Công to Cần Giờ were subsequently liberated and became the active guerrilla bases in Southern Vietnam.

**IV. THE TREATY OF SAIGON (5 JUNE 1862): A DEADLY “STAB IN THE BACK” OF VIETNAMESE RESISTANCE FIGHTERS**

Meanwhile, the Royal Court of Nguyễn Dynasty under the reign of Emperor Tự Đức (嗣德, 1829–1883)^[41]was totally shocked and panicked when hearing all bad news about the Fall of Kỳ Hòa, the Fall of Gia Định, Định Tường and Biên Hòa provincial cities. Therefore, throughout the year of 1861 till the beginning of 1862, the Royal Court made some contacts and negotiated with the French for pursuing a “Peace Treaty” (?)

The Emperor did not really know about the situation of French forces in Cochinchina, which were suffering high casualties from Vietnamese guerrilla warfare as well as from maladies and diseases. Moreover, at that time the French war in Mexico (1861–1867) was happening^[42]. The Mexican battlefield was in fact a “quagmire”, which costed the French more casualties and became the priority of Napoleon III for sending more reinforcements, not the Cochinchina.

Some mandarins of Nguyễn Dynasty even informed the Emperor about the real situation. However, the Emperor still decided to sign a so-called “Peace Treaty” with French and Spanish forces in Saigon, at 5 June 1862. He sent high-ranking mandarins Phan Thanh Giản (潘清簡; 1796–1867) and Lâm Duy Hiệp (林維浹, 1806–1863) for signing the Treaty^[44]^[45].

According to the Treaty, all three provinces of Gia Định, Định Tường and Biên Hòa were subsequently ceded to the French! Moreover, the Article 9 of this Treaty was about the jointed Franco-Vietnamese forces to captured the so-called “pirates” and “bandits” in Cochinchina^[47]! Definitely, it means all of Vietnamese partisans leaders in Southern Vietnam such as Trương Định, Nguyễn Trung Trực, Võ Duy Dương… who did not drop their weapons can even be labeled as “pirates” and “bandits”, whenever the French wanted, and the Nguyễn Dynasty also had responsibility to force them surrender!

Therefore, the Treaty of Saigon in 1862 could be regarded as a deadly stab in the back of Vietnamese fighters. Afterwards, they had to fight alone, without the helps of the Nguyễn Dynasty (they even can be arrested and sent to the French authority if necessary). Since then, the Nguyễn Dynasty turned out to be the notorious betrayer to the Vietnamese nation! At that time, the people in Southern Vietnam had a famous proverb:

“Phan, Lâm mãi quốc; triều đình khi dân.” (Phan [Thanh Giản] and Lâm [Duy Hiệp] sell out the country; the court doesn’t care for the people)

Despite the pressures from both sides of French and the Royal Court, Marshal Trương Định declared he would fought against the invading forces till the end of his life! In 1863, the French Admiral Louis Aldophe Bonard (1805–1867)^[49]also sent Trương Định a Letter of Ultimatum. However, Trương Định politely replied the French Admiral’s letter by saying:

“Triều đình Huế không nhìn nhận chúng ta, nhưng chúng ta cứ bảo vệ Tổ quốc chúng ta.” (The Royal Court in Huế even did not recognize our movement, but we are still fighting for the Fatherland.)

And he continued the guerrilla war until his death in 1864.

V. SOME COMMENTS

The “Peace Treaty of 1862” was signed which let the French who was on a disadvantage position, finally turned out to be the victor! Moreover, all Vietnamese resistance fighters were subsequently became “rebels” and “bandits” according to the terms of this Treaty! By signing the Treaty of Saigon, the Vietnamese independence was partially lost to the Second French Empire. Throughout Vietnamese history, it was one of the most curious and also the most betrayal things was done by a Vietnamese government.

Later on, the Royal Court of Nguyễn Dynasty continued signing several treaties, such as the Treaty of 1874 or the Second Treaty of Saigon^[51], which recognized the rest three provinces of Southern Vietnam (An Giang, Vĩnh Long and Hà Tiên) under the French administration. Finally, the Treaty of Huế in 1884 simply turned Vietnam into a “French Protectorate”.

Besides the betrayal acts and the incompetence of the Royal Court, the other reasons which led to the loss of Vietnamese independence were:

The “collaborators”: A lot of Vietnamese voluntarily worked for the French authority under ranks of mercenaries, such as the “Mã Tà” (Matas). To the Chinese communities in Saigon, the French conquest of Cochinchina brought them more benefits than before as they actively collaborated with the “new authority” (In contrast, the Sino-Vietnamese communities in Rạch Giá Province and Phú Quốc Island actively joined the resistance movements of Nguyễn Trung Trực in 1868).
The real Vietnamese bandits: From 1862 to 1865, the uprising of Tạ Văn Phụng (謝文奉, ?-1865)^[52], a Vietnamese traitor who worked for the French intelligence forces, which inflicted numerous casualties to the Royal Court. They were supported by a large force of Chinese pirates and bandits in Quảng Ninh Province. In 1865, Phụng was captured and executed in Huế.
The Chinese bandits: Since 1870s, the Northern Vietnam was fiercely disrupted by thousand Chinese bandits from the Black Flag Army and Yellow Flag Army^[53], who were once upon a time the soldiers of Taiping Rebellionin China^[54].
The conflicts between the Vietnamese Catholics and Vietnamese Confucianists: In 1874, the Confucianists in Central Vietnam blamed the Vietnamese Catholics for the collaborations and the lost of Southern Vietnam to the French forces. Therefore, the uprising was happened with the slogan of“Bình Tây Sát Tả!” (Pacify the French, Kill the Heresies!)^[55]. It became a civil war in Central Vietnam, which put the country falling deep into the chaotic situation. (In fact, Vietnamese Catholics were not the traitors. Some Vietnamese Catholics collaborated with the French, but some others even defected and served the Emperor, such as Nguyễn Trường Tộ (阮長祚, 1830–1871)^[56], who even sent to the Emperor his plans to reconquer the Southern Vietnam during the Franco-Prussian War^[57]).

Looking from the past, we can learn a lot of lessons for today: In order to maintain the Independence and Freedom, Vietnam must be a strong and a stable country, the government must not underestimate the will of people, and again the people must be united as a front, respect the laws and regulations as well as fulfill their duties.

Once again, many thanks for reading and hope this answer will satisfy your question!

Cheers.

Footnotes

[19] Napoleon III – Wikipedia

[20] Léonard Charner – Wikipedia

[21] Léopold Pallu de la Barrière — Wikipédia

[22] La campagne de 1861 en Cochinchine

[23] Frégates à voiles de 1ze rang

[24] 120 canons – Trois-Ponts!

[25] Saïgon : dock flottant

[26] ILLUSTRATION 19-01-1867

[27] Histoire contemporaine comprenant les principaux événements qui se sont accomplis depuis la révolution de 1830 jusqu’à nos jours et résumant, durant la même période, le mouvement social, artistique et littéraire