The Tonkin Expeditionary Corps () was a French military command based in northern Vietnam (Tonkin) from June 1883 to April 1886. The expeditionary corps fought the Tonkin Campaign (1883–86) taking part in campaigns against the Black Flag Army and the Chinese Yunnan and Guangxi Armies during the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885) and the period of undeclared hostilities that preceded it (August 1883–June 1884), and in important operations against Vietnamese guerrilla bands during the subsequent 'Pacification of Tonkin' (May 1885–February 1886).
Commanders and campaigns
General Alexandre-Eugène Bouët (1833–87)
The expeditionary corps was established in June 1883 in the wake of Henri Rivière's defeat and death at the Battle of Paper Bridge, to entrench the French protectorate in Tonkin. Its first commander was général de brigade Alexandre-Eugène Bouët (1833–87), the most senior marine infantry officer available in the French colony of Cochinchina. Bouët introduced a lightweight black pyjama summer uniform for French troops in Tonkin, and also ordered them to cover their white pith helmets with black cloth to make themselves less conspicuous. These were sensible innovations, which were appreciated by the common soldiers. Bouët's first task was to secure the French posts in Hanoi, Nam Định and Haiphong against Black Flag and Vietnamese attacks. In July 1883 he prepared to go over to the offensive, recruiting a force of 800 Yellow Flag soldiers to augment the French forces at his disposal. Pressured by the civil commissioner-general Jules Harmand to attack the Black Flags as soon as possible in their positions on the Day River, he took the field in August 1883, despite the heat and humidity of the Tonkin summer. Bouët twice attacked the entrenchments held by Liu Yongfu's Black Flag army, at the Battle of Phủ Hoài (15 August 1883) and the Battle of Palan (1 September 1883). Both battles were disappointing for the French, and Bouët's command was also dogged by disagreements with Jules Harmand over French strategy in Tonkin. In early September 1883 Bouët resigned. Shortly before his resignation he recommended to the French government that the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps should be constituted as a regular two-brigade army division with the normal complement of artillery and ancillary support. This recommendation was accepted by the army ministry and implemented in February 1884.
Lieutenant-Colonel Anicet-Edmond-Justin Bichot (1835–1908)
In the wake of Bouët's unexpected resignation, command of the expeditionary corps fell briefly to Lieutenant-Colonel Anicet-Edmond-Justin Bichot (1835–1908), the ranking marine infantry officer in Tonkin. Bichot's interregnum lasted only a few weeks, and saw no large-scale battles between the French and the Black Flags. His short tenure of command was chiefly notable for a reconnaissance in force towards Sơn Tây on 18 September 1883, in the course of which the French discovered the remains of Commandant Henri Rivière, who had been killed in action at the Battle of Paper Bridge (19 May 1883) and whose mutilated body had been buried close to the battlefield, in the village of Kien Mai.Duboc, Trente cinq mois de campagne, 190–202; Huard, La guerre du Tonkin, 139–40; Nicolas, Livre d'or de l'infanterie de la marine, 295–7; Sarrat, Journal d'un marsouin, 94–8
Admiral Anatole-Amédée-Prosper Courbet (1827–85)
Upon the arrival of substantial French reinforcements in Tonkin in November and December 1883, the French government placed Admiral Amédée Courbet, the commander of the Tonkin Coasts naval division, in command of the expeditionary corps. Courbet commanded the expeditionary corps during the Sơn Tây Campaign (December 1883). Among his many other talents, Courbet was a first-class administrator, and was deeply respected by the men of the expeditionary corps for the pains he took to ensure that military life ran as smoothly as possible for them. Long after his departure, this aspect of his command was remembered. If the mail went astray, or if a unit lost its way during a route march, the soldiers would say 'This wouldn't have happened if Courbet were still in command!'
The 1883 campaigns in Tonkin were conducted, like most French colonial enterprises, by the troupes de marine, and had been overseen by the navy ministry. In December 1883, however, in view of the increasing commitment of troops from Algeria to Tonkin, the army ministry insisted on appointing a general from the regular army to command of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps, which would be henceforth be constituted as a two-brigade infantry division with the normal complement of artillery and other supporting arms. Jules Ferry's cabinet approved this recommendation, and Courbet was replaced in command of the expeditionary corps on 16 December 1883 by General Charles-Théodore Millot—ironically, on the very day on which he captured Sơn Tây. He resumed command of the Tonkin Coasts naval division, and for the next six months played a most unwelcome subordinate role, hunting down bands of Vietnamese pirates in the Gulf of Tonkin while Millot was winning glory in the Bắc Ninh campaign.Loir, L’escadre de l'amiral Courbet, 29–35; Rollet de l'Isle, Au Tonkin et dans les mers de Chine, 75–147
General Charles-Théodore Millot (1829–89)
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 (1827–1896), who had earlier made his reputation as governor of Senegal. The 2nd Brigade was commanded by général de brigade François de Négrier (1842–1913), a charismatic young Foreign Legion commander who had recently quelled a serious Arab rebellion in Algeria.
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. In the Hưng Hóa campaign 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 (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 Bắc Lệ ambush 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'.
General Louis-Alexandre-Esprit-Gaston Brière de l'Isle (1827–96)
Millot was replaced as general-in-chief by his senior brigade commander, Louis Brière de l'Isle. Brière de l'Isle appointed Colonel Dujardin to the interim command of the 1st Brigade during the autumn and winter of 1884. In January 1885, on the eve of the Lạng Sơn Campaign, Colonel Ange-Laurent Giovanninelli (1839–1903) arrived in Tonkin and assumed command of the 1st Brigade. General de Négrier remained in command of the 2nd Brigade.
Brière de l'Isle was a natural leader of men, and under his command the expeditionary corps achieved a high standard of professional excellence. In October 1884, in the Kep Campaign, Brière de l'Isle defeated a major Chinese invasion of the Tonkin Delta, skilfully exploiting the mobility of the French gunboats to concentrate his forces successively against both wings of the Guangxi Army.Thomazi, La conquête de l'Indochine, 234–7 In the first fortnight of February 1885, in the Lạng Sơn Campaign, he took the expeditionary corps in triumph to Lạng Sơn. The success of the campaign owed as much to Brière de l'Isle's meticulous planning and organisation as it did to the courage and professionalism of the troops he led.Thomazi, La conquête de l'Indochine, 244–6 In mid-February, pausing only a few days at Lạng Sơn to resupply his troops, Brière de l'Isle marched personally with Giovanninelli's 1st Brigade from Lạng Sơn back to Hanoi, and then up the Red and Clear Rivers to relieve the Siege of Tuyên Quang. Although the French suffered heavy casualties in the Battle of Hòa Mộc (2 March 1885), they captured Liu Yongfu's blocking position and broke through to Tuyên Quang. The relief of Tuyên Quang, on 3 March 1885, was the high point of Brière de l'Isle's career.Thomazi, La conquête de l'Indochine, 237–41 and 246–8
Brière de l'Isle's record of solid professional achievement was marred in the second fortnight of March 1885, with simultaneous French defeats on 24 March at the Battle of Phu Lam Tao and (far more serious) the Battle of Bang Bo. Although de Négrier retrieved his defeat at Bang Bo by inflicting crippling casualties on the Guangxi Army at the Battle of Ky Lua on 28 March, the disastrous decision by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Gustave Herbinger to retreat from Lạng Sơn transformed a French tactical victory into a strategic defeat. Although Brière de l'Isle soon stabilised the situation, the French had lost the hard-won gains of the February campaign. Meanwhile, Brière de l'Isle knew that he would now go down in history not as the victor of Lạng Sơn and Tuyên Quang but as the general who had sent the notorious 'Lạng Sơn telegram' that brought down the government of Jules Ferry. In later years, whenever asked about his experiences during the Sino-French War, he would reply 'Let's talk about something else. That campaign left a bitter taste in everybody's mouth!'
Strong reinforcements were sent to Tonkin in the wake of the Retreat from Lạng Sơn (March 1885), bringing the total number of French soldiers in Tonkin to 35,000 in the summer of 1885. In May and June 1885 thousands of fresh French troops poured into Tonkin, swamping the veterans of the two brigades that had fought the Sino-French War, and the expeditionary corps was reorganised into two two-brigade divisions. Brière de l'Isle was replaced in command of the expeditionary corps on 1 June 1885 by General Philippe-Marie-Henri Roussel de Courcy (1827–1887), but remained in Tonkin for several months as commander of the 1st Division of the expanded expeditionary corps. De Négrier, who had recovered from the wound he sustained at the Battle of Ky Lua (28 March 1885), was given command of the 2nd Division.
General Philippe-Marie-Henri Roussel de Courcy (1827–1887)