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elapsed between Dupuis' return from his first expedition to Yunnan and his expulsion, finding salt was in great request there, and that a picul costing 1 dollar at Hanoi was sold for 7 dollars in Yünnan, he sent several cargoes up the Song Koi without hindrance from the Hanoi Government; and when Garnier captured the citadel, he had sixteen boats loaded with salt, which had to be abandoned at the evacuation.
I will now proceed to the second phase of this remarkable history. Lieutenant François Garnier was a naval officer of great ability and merit; he had accompanied Captain de la Lagrée in his expedition up the Meikong River to explore a new route to the southern provinces of China and Thibet: and when that officer died he succeeded to the command of the party, and brought it safely through China to Hankow, and was preparing to prosecute his researches in Thibet when he was sent for by Admiral Dupré to take charge of an expedition to Tonquin.
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Whatever were Admiral Dupré's intentions in sending Garnier with an armed escort to Tonquin, certainly the Annamite Government considered it was for the purpose of removing Dupuis in accordance with their request. All, however, known about it was "that it was sent to restore order" but whether Dupuis was to be expelled or the Annamites supported, no one knew, but the title given him was Commandant-en-chef des forces de terre et de mer des côtes de Tongking, Envoi Extraordinaire de la Cochin-Chine." On the 10th of October the Annamite Envoys and Garnier and his party embarked in the "D'Estrées," French man-of-war, towing a small gun-boat, the "Arc." Calling at Tuson, two mandarins were sent from Huo to introduce Garnier to the Tonquinese authorities. The "D'Estrées" arrived at the Cua-cam River on the 24th of October, where Garnier obtained two junks, and left with his staff for Hanoi, which he reached on the 5th of November.
A week before, another man-of-war, the 'Decrès, had been dispatched from Saigon, towing a gun-vessel, the "Espingole." The "Decrès " arrived in the Cua-cam on the 7th of November, and the "Espingole" left at once for Hanoi with a crew of twenty-eight men, a medical attendant, Dr. Harmand, and a hydrographer, M. Bouillet, under command of an ensign, M. Baluy.
M. Dupuis and his Chinese received Lieutenant Garnier, on landing at Hanoi, with military honours, and he at once penetrated into the citadel through one of the gates, and obliged the sentries to show him the house of Nguyen Tri-phuong, an old man with the title of Marshal or Commander-in-chief at Hanoi, and who had previously fought the French at Kihoa, and to whom he announced himself as the "French Governor." Concealing his anger, Tri-phuong offered Garnier quarters in the native city, which he refused; but, frustrated in obtaining a house in the citadel, he accepted the building outside called the Examination Hall, and at present the French Consulate. As soon as he had left the city the gates were closed, and the officers who allowed him to enter were severely punished.
Garnier at once began to negotiate. He said he had come at the request of Tuduc's Ministers; he had with him two mandarins sent by the Court of Hué, and had even been told he should meet at Hanoi a Minister Plenipotentiary, with whom he could treat. The Minister had arrived, but Nguyen Tri-phuong entirely ignored him, saying that Garnier had been sent not to make a Commercial Treaty, but to expel Dupuis.
On the day of his arrival Garnier issued a Proclamation. He said he was sent by France at the request of the Annamites, who had been asking at Saigon for help, and his mission was to destroy the pirates who attack vessels on the coast, and to facilitate commerce with Tonquin.
In the meantime, the "Arc" having been lost on the voyage to Tonquin, Admiral Dupré dispatched the gun-boat "Scorpion" to replace her.
On the 10th November M. Dupuis' steamer, the "Manghao," brought a letter from Garnier to the captain of the "D'Estrées," requesting reinforcements; and the following day the "Scorpion," followed by the "Manghao," proceeded up the river, the latter carrying a medical man, Dr. Dubut, and sixty men and three officers.
Thus the whole of the French forces at Hanoi on the 14th of November, 1873, not including Dupuis, were :
The "Espingole," Messrs. Baluy, Harmand, and Bouillet, with 28 men. The "Scorpion," Messrs. Garnier, Esmez, and Bouxin, with 50 men.
The detachment from the "Decrès," Messrs. Bain, Hautefeuille, Perrin, and Dubut, with 60 men.
The 30 marines of M. de Trentenien.
Dr. Chedan and M. Lasserre, private secretary to Garnier. Altogether, 180 men.
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On the 19th of November, Garnier published a second Proclamation, making known the conditions of the intended Treaty of Commerce under French protection. Information had reached him that the Annamites were preparing to attack him, and he thought it would be better to strike the first blow himself; and, as the time he had given Nguyen Tri-phuong to communicate with the Court of Hué had expired, he resolved to attack the citadel the following day.
At daybreak on the 20th of November, the attack was made. A first column composed of 30 sailors with a gun, headed by M. Bain de la Coquerie, marched toward the south-western gate at 6 o'clock. A quarter of an hour later, Garnier himself left the Examination Hall for the south-eastern gate, with 3 guns, 40 sailors, and 30 marines.
The great
The Annamites, taken unawares, offered scarcely any resistance. difficulty in entering the citadel was to break open the gates made of hard wood, and it was necessary to bring the guns close to and fire at a distance of a few feet,
While the southern gates were being stormed, the shells of the "Espingole" and the "Scorpion were falling near the western gate, and, by frightening away the defenders of the place, contributed to the success of the day. M. Dupuis himself, though Garnier had declined his offer of service, was taking a share in the fight, and his soldiers, having managed to scale the Eastern Gate, entered the citadel first, and dispersed for pillage. Garnier, however, gave strict orders to stop all disorder, and by 7 o'clock, the citadel being entirely in his hands, he sent back all the troops to the Examination Hall, except the marines.
Some 200 natives had been killed or wounded, while on the side of the French there was not a single casualty to report. A great number of officials were made prisoners, including the Envoy from the Court of Hué, who had been ignored by the Marshal, the Governor of Hanoi, the two sons of Phan Tanh-gian, who signed the Treaty of 1862 on behalf of Annam, and Nguyen Tri-phuong himself. The Marshal was found concealed in a house where he had taken refuge after receiving a wound in the thigh from a splinter of a shell, and from which he subsequently died.
On the same day Garnier reported to Saigon the capture of the citadel, and asked for reinforcements, and issued a Proclamation to calm the minds of the people.
It would occupy too much space to detail the subsequent proceedings of Garnier, and it will be sufficient to say he sent M. Balny with 15 marines to Towli, a town on the branch of the Song Koi above Hanoi to direct the authorities to submit; and, as he passed Hungyen, the Mandarins came out and offered their submission. After passing Fowli, Balny went to Haidzong, an important citadel in the Thai-dinh River, which he carried by a coup de main on the 4th of December.
On the 1st December Garnier sent a steam-launch under command of M. Haute-feuille, with instructions to M. Balny, and to require the submission of the Governor of Nam-dinh and Minh-binh, the latter of which he attacked with seven men, and captured it, taking the Tedoc or General prisoner. Garnier himself left Hanoi on the 4th December in the "Scorpion," with M. Esnez and about 70 men, in addition to the crew for Nam-dinh, capturing a fort that opened fire upon him en route, and the town itself on the 10th of December, and he issued a fourth Proclamation to pacify the people. Thus, within a period of a month, Hanoi, the capital, Hungyen, Haidzong, Nam-dinh, and Han-dinh, all important cities commanding the delta of the Song Koi or Red River, had been captured.
But, after this, came the reverse. With a handful of men he had overrun the neighbouring country, but it required more than a handful to hold it. Constant attacks were made on the several positions thus occupied, and great difficulty was experienced in repulsing them. A rumour, too, which proved true, was about that Annamite troops were coming from the southern provinces. Tuduc, the King of Annam, was greatly incensed at the loss of Hanoi, and gave orders to the Viceroy of the Province of Nguyen to march against the French, and he himself sent every available soldier from Hué. These orders were partly executed when he changed his mind, and wrote to Saigon, giving his Envoys full powers to sign a Treaty of Commerce, and sent two Envoys to Garnier with full powers, and M. Sohier as Interpreter.
Garnier, in occupying the forts situated on the delta of the Song Koi, had evidently in view the keeping open his communication with the sea, but he had not secured his rear by the capture of the military city of Soutay, some thirty miles west of Hanoi, where resided the Tong Thong, Hoang Ke-vien by name. This officer had increased his army by troops recalled from the north, where they were fighting the so-called rebels, but in truth the Black and Yellow Flag Chinese factions on the frontier, who were at war with each other.
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