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The Battle of Hanoi on 25 April 1882, was the illegal capture by French naval captain Henri Rivière, acting without his superiors' orders. The French handed the city back later.
The Citadel of Hanoi was almost totally unprepared and the entire attack lasted less than an hour, and ended with only four French soldiers wounded. The Nguyễn dynasty Vietnamese defenders suffered heavy losses including, at his own hand, Governor
When Hoàng Diệu first assumed the Governor of Hà Ninh in early 1880, he recognized the important position of Hà Nội "as the throat of Bắc Hà", and "once Hà Nội collapsed fall, the other provinces will also fall apart."
The Nguyễn dynasty built Hà Nội citadel following the French Vauban style from the late 17th century. The citadel was built in a square shape with each side 1 km long. The wall was built of box bricks, the bottom layer was made of 
On the first day of Henri Riève's arrival in Hà Nội, Hoàng Diệu authorized mandarins Tuần vũ and to welcome him. Seeing the French army coming in large numbers and intending to station in the citadel, Hoàng Diệu urged the defense and ordered to bring back more troops from surrounding provinces. The commander of the French army asked the Đại Nam side to withdraw their troops and cancel all defense work, of course Hoàng Diệu did not accept.
There were a few French officers who wanted to walk into the citadel, but the guards wouldn't let them in. Henri Riève immediately ordered naval commander Fiaschi to take a sailors company and lieutenant De Motoignault to take a half marines company from Hải Phòng to Hà Nội on four gunboats: ''La Fanfare'', ''La Suprise'', ''La Massue'', ''La Carabine''.
Hoàng Diệu
Hoàng Diệu ( chữ Hán: 黃耀, 14 March 1829 – 25 April 1882), born Hoàng Kim Tích (黃金錫), courtesy name Quang Viễn, was a Nguyễn dynasty Governor-general of Hà - Ninh, who suicided after failure in protecting Hà Nội ...
, following the dispatch of a final message to the Emperor Tự Đức
Tự Đức (, vi-hantu, 嗣 德, lit. "inheritance of virtues", 22 September 1829 – 19 July 1883) (personal name: Nguyễn Phúc Hồng Nhậm , also Nguyễn Phúc Thì) was the fourth emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam; he ruled ...
in Huế
Huế () is the capital of Thừa Thiên Huế province in central Vietnam and was the capital of Đàng Trong from 1738 to 1775 and of Vietnam during the Nguyễn dynasty from 1802 to 1945. The city served as the old Imperial City and admi ...
.
Background
When Hoàng Diệu first assumed the Governor of Hà Ninh in early 1880, he recognized the important position of Hà Nội "as the throat of Bắc Hà", and "once Hà Nội collapsed fall, the other provinces will also fall apart."
The Nguyễn dynasty built Hà Nội citadel following the French Vauban style from the late 17th century. The citadel was built in a square shape with each side 1 km long. The wall was built of box bricks, the bottom layer was made of bluestone
Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of dimension or building stone varieties, including:
* basalt in Victoria, Australia, and in New Zealand
* dolerites in Tasmania, Australia; and in Britain (including Stonehenge)
* fe ...
, the upper layer was made of laterite. The citadel has 5 gates: Northern Gate, Eastern Gate, Southeastern Gate, Southwestern Gate, and Western Gate.
Using the excuse that the Nguyễn dynasty did not respect the Treaty of Saigon (1874)
The Treaty of Saigon was signed on 15 March 1874 by the Third French Republic and the Nguyễn dynasty of Vietnam. Vietnam made economic and territorial concessions to France, while France waived a previous war indemnity and promised military prote ...
, continued to have relations with the Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...
, tolerated the Black Flag Army
The Black Flag Army (; , chữ Nôm: 軍旗𬹙) was a splinter remnant of a bandit group recruited largely from soldiers of ethnic Zhuang background, who crossed the border in 1865 from Guangxi, China into northern Vietnam, then during the N ...
, hindered trade on the Red River as well as discrimination against overseas French. In early March 1882, the Governor of Nam Kỳ, Le Myre de Vilers, sent Captain Henri Rivière leading 2 gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
History Pre-ste ...
s carried 2 marines
Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...
companies, 1 cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
section, 1 tirailleur
A tirailleur (), in the Napoleonic era, was a type of light infantry trained to skirmish ahead of the main columns. Later, the term "''tirailleur''" was used by the French Army as a designation for indigenous infantry recruited in the French ...
section to Bắc Kỳ.
On 1 April 1882, the two gunboats, ''La Drac'' and ''La Parseval'', arrived in Hải Phòng
Haiphong ( vi, Hải Phòng, ), or Hải Phòng, is a major industrial city and the third-largest in Vietnam. Hai Phong is also the center of technology, economy, culture, medicine, education, science and trade in the Red River delta.
Haiphong wa ...
. On 3 April 1882, French reinforcement landed in Hà Nội and stationed at ''Đồn Thủy'' concession (a former ''base'' of Đại Nam ''navy''). Henri Rivière announced that he was leading troops to deal with the Black Flag Army and protect overseas French. At that time, the French had two companies of marines and infantry, commanded by Major Berthe de Villers to protect the French Consulate.
On the first day of Henri Riève's arrival in Hà Nội, Hoàng Diệu authorized mandarins Tuần vũ and to welcome him. Seeing the French army coming in large numbers and intending to station in the citadel, Hoàng Diệu urged the defense and ordered to bring back more troops from surrounding provinces. The commander of the French army asked the Đại Nam side to withdraw their troops and cancel all defense work, of course Hoàng Diệu did not accept.
There were a few French officers who wanted to walk into the citadel, but the guards wouldn't let them in. Henri Riève immediately ordered naval commander Fiaschi to take a sailors company and lieutenant De Motoignault to take a half marines company from Hải Phòng to Hà Nội on four gunboats: ''La Fanfare'', ''La Suprise'', ''La Massue'', ''La Carabine''.
Battle
On 25 April 1882, Captain Rivière sent Governor Hoàng an ultimatum at 5 A.M, declared that until 8 A.M, without a troop withdrawal, and the Vietnamese military officers do not come to surrender at ''Đồn Thủy'', the French will attack the citadel and will rearrange everything so that there is no harm to them.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanoi, Battle Of 1882 1882 in France 1882 in Vietnam Battles involving France Battles involving Vietnam Conflicts in 1882 History of Hanoi Tonkin campaign April 1882 events 19th century in Hanoi