Intervention in Tonkin
Garnier met his death in controversial circumstances. In late 1873 he was sent by Admiral Dupré, the governor of Cochinchina, to Tonkin, to resolve a dispute between the Vietnamese authorities and the French entrepreneur Jean Dupuis. Persuaded that the time was ripe for a French conquest of Tonkin, Garnier captured Hanoi, the capital of Tonkin, 20 November 1873. In the next few weeks a small French force under Garnier's command captured most of the citadels of the Red River Delta. The Vietnamese authorities, despairing of meeting the French with their own forces, appealed to the notorious Chinese soldier of fortune Liu Yongfu to come to their aid with his Black Flag Army.
Read more about this topic: Francis Garnier
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