Charles-Théodore Millot (28 June 1829 – 17 May 1889) was a French general who distinguished himself in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71) and the

Tonkin Campaign The Tonkin campaign was an armed conflict fought between June 1883 and April 1886 by the French against, variously, the Vietnamese, Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army and the Chinese Guangxi and Yunnan armies to occupy Tonkin (northern Vietnam) and ...

(1883–86). His victories at

Bắc Ninh Bắc Ninh () is a city in the northern part of Vietnam and is the capital of Bắc Ninh province. The city is the cultural, administrative and commercial center of the province. The city area is 82.60 square km, with a population of 501,199 in N ...

(March 1884) and

Hưng Hóa Thành Hưng Hóa was a fort and settlement in present-day Phú Thọ Province, northern Vietnam.''Tradition, Revolution, and Market Economy in a North ...'' Hy V. Luong - 2010 - Page 37 " ... route of attack and counterattack between the French- ...

brought to an end the two-year undeclared war in northern Vietnam between France and China, and paved the way for the conclusion of the

Tientsin Accord The Tientsin Accord or Li–Fournier Convention, concluded on 11 May 1884, was intended to settle an undeclared war between France and China over the sovereignty of Tonkin (northern Vietnam). The convention, negotiated by Li Hongzhang for China an ...

between the two countries on 11 May 1884. Millot resigned as general-in-chief of the

Tonkin Expeditionary Corps The Tonkin Expeditionary Corps (french: corps expéditionnaire du Tonkin) was an important French military command based in northern Vietnam (Tonkin) from June 1883 to April 1886. The expeditionary corps fought the Tonkin Campaign (1883–86) taki ...

shortly after the outbreak of the Sino-French War on 23 August 1884 and returned to France.

Command of Tonkin Expeditionary Corps

In early 1884 the arrival of substantial reinforcements from France and the African colonies raised the strength of the expeditionary corps to over 10,000 men. Its new commander, ''général de division'' Charles-Théodore Millot (1829–1889), organised this force into two brigades. The 1st Brigade was commanded by ''général de brigade''

Louis Brière de l'Isle Louis Alexandre Esprit Gaston Brière de l'Isle (24 June 1827 – 19 June 1896) was a French Army general who achieved distinction firstly as Governor of Senegal (1876–81), and then as general-in-chief of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps during t ...

(1827–1896), who had earlier made his reputation as governor of Senegal. The 2nd Brigade was commanded by ''général de brigade''

François de Négrier François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, Kin ...

(1842–1913), a charismatic young Foreign Legion commander who had recently quelled a serious Arab rebellion in Algeria. Millot and Staff

Millot commanded the expeditionary corps for eight months, from February to September 1884. During his tenure of command he organised two major campaigns to capture Bắc Ninh and Hưng Hóa (March and April 1884) and two more modest expeditions to capture Thái Nguyên and Tuyên Quang (May and June 1884). In the Bắc Ninh campaign he won a spectacular walkover victory against Xu Yanxu's

Guangxi Army The Guangxi Army was an army raised by the Qing dynasty ( China) to fight in the Sino-French War during the Tonkin Campaign The Tonkin campaign was an armed conflict fought between June 1883 and April 1886 by the French against, variously, th ...

. At the

Capture of Hưng Hóa The Capture of Hưng Hóa (12 April 1884) was an important French victory in the Tonkin Campaign (1883–86). Background Hưng Hóa was captured by the French a month to the day after the capture of Bắc Ninh. General Charles-Théodore Mill ...

, he flanked Liu Yongfu out of a formidable defensive system without losing a man. Having argued strenuously against sending a column to occupy Lạng Sơn in the heat of the Tonkin summer, he emerged unscathed from the official enquiry into the circumstances of the

Bắc Lệ ambush The Bắc Lệ ambush (french: guet-apens de Bac-Lé, Vietnamese: ''trận Bắc Lệ'' or ''trận cầu Quan Âm'') was a clash during the Tonkin Campaign in June 1884 between Chinese troops of the Guangxi Army and a French column sent to occ ...

(June 1884). Millot was arguably the most successful of the many commanders of the expeditionary corps, but he was unpopular with both his officers and his men, who considered him overcautious. Significantly, his decision to halt General de Négrier's pursuit of the defeated Chinese forces in the Bắc Ninh campaign was held against him, even though he had sound military reasons for this decision. The troops immediately gave sardonic Vietnamese nicknames to their three generals. The much-admired de Négrier became ''Maolen'' ('Quick!'), Brière de l'Isle ''Mann Mann'' ('Slow!'), and Millot ''Toi Toi'' ('Stop!'). Millot's career in Tonkin ended on a sour note. In poor health, and dismayed at the way the French government used the

as a pretext for war with China, he submitted his resignation in September 1884. In his last order of the day, he described himself as 'a sick and disappointed man'.Thomazi, ''Conquête'', 233–4

Notes

References

* Huard, ''La guerre du Tonkin'' (Paris, 1887) * Huguet, L., ''En colonne: souvenirs de l'Extrême-Orient'' (Paris, 1888) * Lung Chang ��章 ''Yueh-nan yu Chung-fa chan-cheng'' ��南與中法戰爭, Vietnam and the Sino-French War(Taipei, 1993) * Thomazi, A., ''Histoire militaire de l'Indochine française'' (Hanoi, 1931) * Thomazi, A., ''La conquête de l'Indochine'' (Paris, 1934) {{DEFAULTSORT:Millot, Charles-Theodore 1829 births 1889 deaths French military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War People of the Tonkin campaign French generals