Amédée Courbet
Henri Rivière's intervention in Tonkin in April 1882 was made with vessels of the Cochinchina naval division. As France increased its commitment in Tonkin after Rivière's defeat and death at the Battle of Paper Bridge, a naval division was created at the end of May 1883 to patrol the Gulf of Tonkin. Command of this new Tonkin Coasts naval division ("division navale des côtes du Tonkin") was given to Admiral Amédée Courbet. A Tonkin Flotilla ("flotille de Tonkin"), consisting of a number of despatch vessels and gunboats, was also created for inland operations in the summer of 1883, and placed under the command of "général de brigade" Alexandre-Eugène Bouët (1833–87), the French "commandant supérieur" in Tonkin.