Charles Rigault de Genouilly Pierre - Louis - Charles Rigault de Genouilly ( April 12 , 1807 in Rochefort , Charente - Maritime – May 4 , 1873 in Barcelona ) was a nineteenth - century French admiral . He fought with distinction in the Crimean War and the Second Opium War , but is chiefly remembered today for his command of French and Spanish forces during the opening phase of the Cochinchina campaign ( 1858 – 62 ) , which inaugurated the French conquest of Vietnam . Early career . Charles Rigault de Genouilly was born and raised in Rochefort into a family with naval connections . His father was a naval engineer and his mother , Adélaïde - Caroline Mithon de Genouilly , was the niece and adopted daughter of Claude Mithon de Genouilly , a naval commander during the American War of Independence . Rigault de Genouilly entered the École Polytechnique in 1825 . He entered the navy as a midshipman in 1827 , and served in the Morea expedition aboard the frigate " Fleur de Lys " during the Greek War of Independence . In 1828 he was transferred to " Résolue " , and took part in operations against pirates in the Greek archipelago . Promoted " enseigne de vaisseau " in 1830 , he participated in the French expedition against Algiers and the forcing of the Tagus in 1831 . In 1832 he served aboard " Ducreuse " during the blockade of the Dutch coast in the Belgian War of Independence . He was promoted " lieutenant de vaisseau " in 1834 . In 1843 , he assumed command of the corvette " Victorieuse " on the China and India Seas station , and took part in an expedition to explore the Yellow Sea . On 25 April 1847 " Victorieuse " and " Gloire " ( " capitaine de vaisseau " Augustin de Lapierre ) , which had been sent to Da Nang ( Tourane ) to negotiate for the release of two French Catholic missionaries , were attacked without warning by several Vietnamese vessels , in an incident known as the Bombardment of Tourane . The two French ships fought back , and with their superior armament rapidly destroyed their attackers . In July 1847 " Victorieuse " ran aground on the coast of Korea , but Rigault de Genouilly was exonerated from blame by a court of enquiry . He was promoted " captaine de vaisseau " in July 1848 , and served on a commission charged with studying the defences of Havre . He then became " chef de cabinet " of the navy minister Joseph Grégoire Cazy . Between 1849 and 1851 he was captain successively of the paddle steamer frigate " Vauban " and of " Charlemagne " , the first screw - driven French battleship converted from a sailing ship . This type of conversion was called a " vaisseau mixte " to distinguish it from purpose - built steam ships such as " Napoléon " . He conducted extensive tests on " Charlemagne " , for which he received the thanks of the admiralty . Crimean War . In 1853 he was appointed flag - captain of the ship of the line " Ville de Paris " by Admiral Hamelin and took part in the bombardment of Odessa on 22 April 1854 , one of the early naval actions of the Crimean War . Promoted " contre - amiral " ( rear admiral ) in 1854 , he served with distinction in the siege of Sebastopol , where he was in command of the French marines ( " fusiliers - marins " ) . Second Opium War . In 1857 Rigault de Genouilly sailed aboard the frigate " Némésis " to join the naval armada assembled by Admiral Léonard Charner for the Second Opium War , and was placed in command of the French naval division . During the campaign he took part in the blockade of Macau and captured the city of Canton . After this success he served at the capture of the Peiho forts and accompanied the Anglo - French expedition to Tientsin . War in Vietnam . In November 1857 , in response to the execution of two Spanish missionaries by the Vietnamese emperor Tự Đức and the failure of a diplomatic mission to Huế led by Charles de Montigny , Rigault de Genouilly was authorised by the French emperor Napoleon III to launch a punitive expedition against Vietnam . In September 1858 a joint French and Spanish expedition under his command landed at Da Nang and captured the city . The allies expected an easy victory , but the war did not at first go as planned . Vietnamese resistance was more stubborn than had been expected , and the French and Spanish found themselves besieged in Da Nang by a Vietnamese army under the command of Nguyen Tri Phuong . The Siege of Đà Nẵng lasted for nearly three years , and although there was little fighting disease took a heavy toll of the allied expedition . The siege eventually ended with the unopposed evacuation of the French garrison in March 1860 . Shortly after his capture of Da Nang , Rigault de Genouilly cast around for somewhere else to strike the Vietnamese . In January 1859 he proposed to the navy ministry an expedition against Saigon in Cochinchina , a city of considerable strategic significance as a source of food for the Vietnamese army . The expedition was approved , and in early February , leaving " capitaine de vaisseau " Thoyon at Da Nang with a small French garrison , Rigault de Genouilly sailed south for Saigon with a powerful naval flotilla and a Franco - Spanish landing force . On 17 February 1859 , after forcing the river defences and destroying a series of forts and stockades along the Saigon river , Rigault de Genouilly captured Saigon . The allies were not strong enough to hold the enormous Citadel of Saigon , and on 8 March 1859 blew it up and set fire to its rice magazines . In April Rigault de Genouilly returned to Da Nang with the bulk of his forces to reinforce Thoyon ' s hard - pressed garrison . On 8 May 1859 he personally led a French attack on the Vietnamese siege lines at Da Nang . The attack achieved limited success , but the French were unable to break the siege . In October 1859 Rigault de Genouilly , whose actions in Cochinchina had been severely criticised in France , was replaced by Admiral François Page , who was instructed to obtain a treaty protecting the Catholic faith in Vietnam but not to seek any territorial gains . Later career . Between 1862 and 1864 , following his return to France , Rigault de Genouilly served first aboard " Bretagne " and then aboard " Ville de Paris " as commander of the French squadron of evolutions ( " escadre d ’ évolutions " ) in the Mediterranean . He was navy minister from 20 January 1867 to 4 September 1870 , replacing Justin de Chasseloup - Laubat . He also became Minister of War on August 13 , 1869 , succeeding Adolphe Niel . He only held the position for a few days , and was replaced by Edmond Le Bœuf on August 21 , 1869 . Rigault de Genouilly turned down the offer of command of one of the French fleets during the Franco - Prussian War and resigned as navy minister on the fall of the Second Empire after the battle of Sedan . One of his last acts as navy minister was to order naval personnel and gunboats to take part in the Siege of Paris . After his resignation he retired to Spain to live out his last years . He died in Barcelona in 1873 .