Amédée Courbet
Following Rivière's defeat and death at the Battle of Paper Bridge (19 June 1883), the navy ministry created a new Tonkin Coasts naval division ("division navale des côtes du Tonkin") under the command of Admiral Amédée Courbet, whose mission was to cut off the flow of weapons and ammunition from China to the Black Flag Army by blockading the Gulf of Tonkin. The larger seagoing vessels already on station in Tonkin were transferred to Courbet's new naval division, while the remainder (mostly gunboats) were organised into the 'Tonkin Flotilla'. The flotilla was initially placed under the command of "général de brigade" Alexandre-Eugène Bouët (1833–87), the French "commandant supérieur" in Tonkin. Operational command was given to "capitaine de vaisseau" Morel-Beaulieu.