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 A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. I ...

was almost totally unprepared and the entire attack lasted less than an hour, and ended with only four French soldiers wounded. The

Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (chữ Nôm: 茹阮, vi, Nhà Nguyễn; chữ Hán: 阮朝, vi, Nguyễn triều) was the last Vietnamese dynasty, which ruled the unified Vietnamese state largely independently from 1802 to 1883. During its existence, ...

Vietnamese defenders suffered heavy losses including, at his own hand, Governor

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 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

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) * felds ...

, the upper layer was made of

laterite Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

. 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-speak ...

, tolerated the Black Flag Army, hindered trade on the Red River as well as discrimination against overseas French. In early March 1882, the Governor of

Nam Kỳ French Cochinchina (sometimes spelled ''Cochin-China''; french: Cochinchine française; vi, Xứ thuộc địa Nam Kỳ, Hán tự: ) was a colony of French Indochina, encompassing the whole region of Southern Vietnam, Lower Cochinchina or Sou ...

, Le Myre de Vilers, sent Captain Henri Rivière leading 2 gunboats 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 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 Saint Bertha or Saint Aldeberge (c. 565 – d. in or after 601) was the queen of Kent whose influence led to the Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England. She was canonized as a saint for her role in its establishment during that period of Eng ...

to protect the French Consulate. Hdieu2

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''. HenriRiviere1870s

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