his way back to Hue, where he was again captured by the exasperated mandarins. King Thieu Tri chose not to carry out the death sentence. He deported the brave but reckless clergyman to Singapore.15

In 1847 a French frigate and a corvette anchored in the same roadstead. This time the French discovered five Vietnamese corvettes which the king had built to oppose the intruders. The mandarins at Tourane refused to deliver a letter from the senior officer, Captain Lapierre, to the king seeking to negotiate better treatment for Catholics. Frustrated by his inability to communicate with the monarch, the captain decided on direct action and delivered several broadsides, which sank most of the corvettes and killed many Indochinese,16

In a sequel to the Constitution incident, the king sent a delegation to Joseph Balestier, the American Consul in Singapore, claiming the right to punish Captain Percival. Balestier notified Washington of the Vietnamese demand and of threats issued at the same time to retaliate against other Americans visiting Annam. Subsequently he was ordered late in 1849 by the State Department to proceed to Tourane on board the USS Plymouth. Balestier carried with him a note of apology for Percival's actions, but the delivery of this document to the king was impossible due to the familiar obstructions raised by minor Vietnamese officials. Balestier countered Vietnamese threats to punish American citizens visiting Vietnam by stating that, under such circumstances, the President would be "obliged to send a strong armed force" to Annam. Following these acrimonious exchanges, Balestier departed Vietnam early in 1850."

After Commodore Matthew C. Perry's famous expedition to Japan in 1853-1854, that officer's report included the prediction that America's expanding commercial interests would lead the United States to "extend the advantages of our national friendship and protection" to other countries

15

Benjamin F. Stevens, "Around the World in the United States Frigate Constitution in the Days of the Old or Wooden Ships," The United Service VII (May 1905), pp. 596–97; Allan Westcott, "Captain 'Mad Jack' Percival," United States Naval Institute Proceedings, LXI (Mar. 1935), p. 318; USS Constitution Daily Log, 14-16 May 1845; Captains letters received, May 1845, Record Group (RG) 45, National Archives and Records Service; Buttinger, Smaller Dragon, pp. 332-33, 391-92.

16

17

'Buttinger, Smaller Dragon, pp. 333, 393.

Quoted in James W. Gould, "American Imperialism in Southeast Asia Before 1898," Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, III (Sept. 1972), p. 308.

of the Far East, including "Cochin China." 18 Nevertheless, in the years that followed, American contacts with Vietnam were of a limited nature.

The Evolution of French Indochina

French naval power, at sea and on inland waters, would provide the key to the establishment of controls over Tonkin, Cochin China, Annam, and Cambodia. Naval operations during this period were in many respects indicative of actions that would be required in the Vietnam conflict which would follow World War II.

Napoléon III arranged for his envoy, Louis Charles de Montigny, to open negotiations for trading and religious rights. Arriving in Tourane on 23 January 1857 on board a small steamer, Montigny was highly offended when the king, now Tu Duc, refused to receive him as the emperor's personal representative. In retaliation, the envoy sent a strong warning to Hue that the king's continued maltreatment of Christians could only result in serious consequences. But threats of force by the French only generated more Vietnamese terrorism. It has been estimated that in the years between 1848 and 1860 approximately 25 Catholic missionaries, 300 Vietnamese priests, and 30,000 Vietnamese Christians were put to death.19

Faced with an impasse, Napoléon, on the advice of his ministers, decided on a policy which called for a permanent French presence in Indochina, preferably in the form of a protectorate. The decision meant that no longer would the role of naval forces be that of guarding scattered trading posts and missions. Instead, the navy assumed long-range responsibilities for the security of an overseas dominion, including the protection of the ocean routes to these newly won lands, and the control of coastal waters and rivers. To the extent that the navy remained capable of carrying out these tasks, the French colonization of Indochina proceeded apace.20

In August 1858 the French Asiatic Squadron, comprising thirteen ships and 2,050 men, sailed to Tourane to occupy the post. Spanish authorities at

18

Quoted in Ronald Spector. "The American Image of Southeast Asia 1970–1865, A Preliminary Assessment," Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, III (Sept. 1972), p. 304.

19 Teston and Percheron, L'Indochine Moderne, pp. 30-31; Buttinger, Smaller Dragon, p. 340; Steinberg, In Search of Southeast Asia. p. 128.

20

Buttinger, Smaller Dragon, pp. 342-45; Lancaster, Emancipation of French Indochina, pp.

Manila augmented Admiral Charles Rigault de Genouilly's squadron with a ship and 450 troops. The combined force bombarded Tourane and took the city's forts without difficulty. However, the admiral found a largely abandoned city. The lack of a native labor force to convert Tourane into a base, coupled with the presence of disease, discouraged the French from further actions in the area. An assault on the capital at Hue was tempting but Genouilly, finding that the depth of the Perfume (Huong) River restricted passage to ship's boats, decided that a better course was to seize Saigon. On 2 February 1859, the fleet sailed south. Two weeks later the French successfully occupied Saigon, long a center for rice shipments from the southern delta region to the northern cities."

21

After the French had subjugated much of the Mekong Delta, and foreseeing a serious shortage of rice in his country, the king finally agreed to negotiations. The new concessions wrested from Tu Duc in 1862 by French naval officers, one of whom was Rear Admiral Louis Adolphe Bonard, resulted in the acquisition by France of three provinces around Saigon plus the offshore island of Poulo Condore (Con Son), the right of Catholic missionaries to work among the people, trading privileges for France and Spain in the port of Tourane and several ports near Haiphong, the payment of an indemnity by the Vietnamese government, free ship passage on the Mekong to Cambodia, and finally, the promise of the king not to cede any land to a foreign nation without the agreement of the French government. The French government appointed Admiral Bonard as the first Governor of Cochin China, the French protectorate in the south. Bonard, in turn, organized an administrative command with naval officers acting as "inspectors of indigenous affairs" where they directed administrative, judicial, and financial

A serious challenge to the French arose in 1862 as armed guerrilla bands formed to fight the foreigners in widespread insurrection. Enjoying a superiority in artillery and small arms, the French finally subdued the revolt, forcing Tu Duc to cede even more territory, including disputed land bordering on Cambodia. In 1863, Bonard's successor, Admiral Benoit de la Grandière, forced the Cambodian king to sign a treaty whereby his nation became a French protectorate. Four years later, the King of Siam, who

21

Buttinger, Smaller Dragon, pp. 344-46, 351, 404-05; Teston and Percheron, L'Indochina Moderne, p. 31.

22

Lancaster, Emancipation of French Indochina, pp. 39-40; Hall, History of South-East Asia, pp. 612-13; Buttinger, Smaller Dragon, p. 360.

also had an historic claim of suzerainty over Cambodia, recognized Gallic power in a separate treaty with France. As compensation for its concession Siam received two of Cambodia's provinces."

23

Riverine Operations

The extension of French control to Tonkin was achieved mainly through riverine operations. A pioneer in this form of warfare was Lieutenant Francis Garnier. He had been second-in-command of Lieutenant Doudart de Lagrée's expedition up the river to Cambodia, and after serving as "Inspector of Natives" in Cochin China, Garnier participated in a two year exploration of the Mekong River. Since the Mekong had been found unsuitable for trade with China, attention then focused on the Red River which provided a navigable route to Yunnan Province.24

Key points along the river were controlled by bandits and pirates known as the Black Flags. A French arms dealer, Jean Dupuis, pressed the Hanoi mandarins to request that he be allowed to transport his cargo by junk up the Red River without paying custom charges. The king at Hue did not grant the request."

25

In Saigon the new governor, Admiral Marie Jules Dupré, received a request for help from Dupuis. Tu Duc also asked for assistance, calling on Dupré to uphold the existing treaty and bring the arms dealer to terms. Fortified by Garnier's counsel on the commercial importance of Hanoi, Dupré cabled Paris. His report stated that Tonkin had been opened for commerce by Dupuis and that unless France moved now, China or a European nation might preempt the use of this attractive trade route to Yunnan. Paris replied that, while the government did not object to the occupation of Tonkin, Dupré was not to take action that would result in international complications. The response satisfied Dupré who then instructed Garnier to take command of 3 gunboats and approximately 200 men, to proceed to Hanoi, and open the Red River to French trade.26

23

Buttinger, Smaller Dragon. pp. 362, 411, 414–15; Lancaster, Emancipation of French Indochina, p. 41; Hall, History of South-East Asia, p. 613.

24

Sidney A. Staunton, The War in Tong-King: Why the French are in Tong-King, and What they are doing there (Boston: Cupples, Upham and Co., 1884), pp. 15–16; Buttinger, Smaller Dragon, pp. 366–71, 415.

25 Hall, History of South-East Asia. p. 620; Staunton. War in Tong-King, p. 17.

Ibid., p. 21; Buttinger, Smaller Dragon, pp. 368, 416; Lancaster, Emancipation of French Indochina, p. 45.