Thống chế Điều bát Nguyễn Văn Tồn ( vi-hantu, 統制調撥阮文存, 1763–1820) was a general and official of the

Nguyễn dynasty The Nguyễn dynasty (, chữ Nôm: 茹阮, chữ Hán: 朝阮) was the last List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, preceded by the Nguyễn lords and ruling unified Vietnam independently from 1802 until French protectorate in 1883 ...

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. He was a Khmer Krom. He was either born in Càng Long or in Trà Ôn, Cần Thơ Province (in present-day

Vĩnh Long Province Vĩnh Long () is a province located in the Mekong Delta of southwestern Vietnam. Its capital is Vĩnh Long. Its population is 1,046,390 and its area is . Vĩnh Long (spelled 永隆 in the former Hán-Nôm writing system) is a Sino-Vietnamese na ...

). His Khmer name was ''Duồn'' or ''Duông''. At first he was a slave. He followed

Nguyễn Ánh Gia Long (Chữ Hán, Chữ hán: 嘉隆) ( (''Hanoi, North''), (''Ho Chi Minh City, South''); 8 February 1762 – 3 February 1820), born Nguyễn Phúc Ánh (阮福暎) or Nguyễn Ánh (阮暎), was the founding emperor of the Nguyễn dynas ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

in 1784, in there he was promoted to ''cai đội'' and took the Vietnamese name Nguyễn Văn Tồn. He followed Nguyễn Ánh back to Southern Vietnam in 1787. He gathered an army of several thousand Khmers in

Trà Vinh Trà Vinh City ( ) is the capital city of Trà Vinh province in Southern Vietnam. Etymology Trà Vang was an old name used for this area, a hinterland with a sparse population. In 1825, the area of Trà Vinh was established by King Minh Mạng ...

and Mân Thít (present-day Mang Thít), called the ''Xiêm binh đồn'' (暹兵屯, lit. "Siamese soldiers' camp"), to reinforce Nguyễn Ánh. Tồn joint the battle of

Quy Nhơn Quy Nhon ( ) is a coastal city in Bình Định province in central Vietnam. It is composed of 16 wards and five communes with a total of . Quy Nhon was the capital of the former Bình Định province. As of 2022 its population was 481.110. H ...

in 1801. He was captured by Tây Sơn rebels. He was appreciated by Tây Sơn generals and joint the rebels. He did fight bravely for them, however, not long after he escaped and joint the

Nguyễn Nguyễn (阮) (sometimes abbreviated as Ng̃) is the most common surname of the Vietnamese people. Outside of Vietnam, the surname is commonly rendered without diacritics as ''Nguyen''. By some estimates 30 to 39 percent of Vietnamese peopl ...

army again. He was promoted to ''cai cơ'' in the next year and sent to Trà Vinh and Mân Thít.

Siam Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

ese invaded

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

in 1811. Nguyễn Văn Tồn and Nguyễn Văn Thoại were sent to help him. They defeated Siamese army in

Longvek Longvek or Lavek (, or , ; ) was a city in Cambodia. It was the second capital city during the Cambodia's Post-Angkor period which began after the Angkor era. The city was known to early European traders as "Cambodia". The city used to serve as ...

. Nguyễn Văn Tồn was left in

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since 1865 and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its political, economic, industr ...

to "protect" the Cambodian king Ang Chan. He was promoted to ''thống chế'' (統制), and received the title ''Dung Ngọc hầu'' (lit. Marquess Dung Ngọc) from Nguyễn dynasty. Nguyễn Văn Tồn was appointed ''Điều bát nhung vụ'' in 1819. He was sent to

Châu Đốc Châu Đốc is a city in An Giang Province, bordering Cambodia, in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. As of 2019, the city had a population of 101,765, and cover an area of . The city is located by the Hậu River (a branch of the Mekong Ri ...

to dig the Vĩnh Tế Canal. He died in the next year. Emperor Minh Mạng mourned his death; the emperor compared him with

Jin Midi Jin Midi (134 BC – 29 September 86 BC, zh, c=金日磾, p=Jīn Mìdī, courtesy name Wengshu (翁叔), formally Marquess Jing of Du (秺敬侯)), was a Xiongnu Xiutu prince and a general of the Western Han dynasty. He was referred to as a no ...

, a prominent official of the Chinese

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of Nomad, nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese historiography, Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, t ...

ethnicity. His tomb was in present-day Trà Ôn District,

. The tomb was called ''Lăng ông Tiền quân Thống chế Điều bát'' by local people.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Van Ton Generals of the Nguyễn lords Nguyen dynasty generals Nguyen dynasty officials Khmer Krom people People from Vĩnh Long province 1763 births 1820 deaths 18th-century slaves