Siege of Saigon The Siege of Saigon , a two - year siege of the city by the Vietnamese after its capture on 17 February 1859 by a Franco - Spanish flotilla under the command of the French admiral Charles Rigault de Genouilly , was one of the major events of the Cochinchina campaign ( 1858 – 62 ) . Saigon was of great strategic importance , both as the key food - producing area of Vietnam and as the gateway to Cochinchina . Background . In 1858 , Admiral Charles Rigault de Genouilly attacked Vietnam under the orders of Napoleon III following the failed mission of diplomat Charles de Montigny . His stated mission was to stop the persecution of Catholic missionaries in the country and assure the unimpeded propagation of the faith . For his descent on Vietnam , Rigault de Genouilly had a force of 14 warships , 1 , 000 French marine infantry , and 1 , 000 troops from the Spanish garrisons of the Philippines ( 550 Spanish infantry and 450 Filipino light infantry ) . The allied force landed at the port of Tourane in September 1858 and occupied the city after a brief bombardment . However , the allies were soon placed under siege by the Vietnamese and , unable to advance inland beyond the protection of the squadron ' s guns , were effectively immobilised at Tourane . Capture of Saigon , 17 February 1859 . Realising that the French garrison at Tourane could achieve nothing useful , Rigault de Genouilly decided to strike elsewhere against the Vietnamese . He considered and rejected the possibility of an expedition to Tonkin , and in January 1859 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 on 2 February , leaving " capitaine de vaisseau " Thoyon at Tourane with a small French garrison and two gunboats , Rigault de Genouilly sailed south for Saigon . His naval force consisted of the corvettes " Phlégéton " and " Primauguet " , the gunboats " Alarme " , " Avalanche " and " Dragonne " , the Spanish despatch vessel " El Cano " and the transports " Saône " , " Durance " and " Meurthe " . Rigault de Genouilly halted for five days in Cam Ranh Bay for four supply ships to join him with food for the expedition . On 9 February he again got underway . On 10 February the allied flotilla bombarded the forts that defended the interior harbour of Cape Saint - Jacques and soon reduced their cannon to silence . The landing companies , a mixed force of French and Spanish soldiers under the command of " capitaine de vaisseau " Reynaud , then went ashore and stormed the forts . On 11 February the five - day voyage upriver began . The transports and the baggage were left at Cap Saint - Jacques . The gunboat " Dragonne " scouted ahead , followed by the two other gunboats , the two corvettes and the Spanish despatch vessel . Three companies of marine infantry and two Spanish companies , 2 , 000 men in all , were distributed among the vessels which towed the launches of the naval force . The allied flotilla advanced cautiously as the currents were unknown , and anchored each night in the river . During their passage the French and Spanish vessels halted to reduced six riverside forts , and squads of engineers under the command of " capitaine de génie " Gallimard were put ashore to burn the wooden stockades that linked the forts . The Vietnamese defended themselves vigorously : " Dragonne " was hit with three cannonballs , and " Avalanche " by seven . The invaders took care to ensure that the river could not be closed behind them . After each fort was taken its cannon were either spiked or taken aboard the ships . On the evening of 15 February the naval division ( which had been joined in the river by the despatch vessel " Prégent " ) arrived in view of the two forts built by Gia Long ' s French engineers , which defended Saigon from the south . During the night two armed launches were sent forward to destroy a barrage made of boats lashed together and filled with explosives . At dawn on 16 February " Phlégéton " , " Primauguet " , " Alarme " and " Avalanche " anchored 800 metres from the forts . The channel was so narrow that Admiral Charner , on " Phlégéton " ' s bridge , was able to shout his orders to the captains of the other vessels . " Prégent " , " Dragonne " and " El Cano " were a little further back . The allied flotilla opened fire on the Vietnamese forts and soon found the range . Marine infantry snipers , firing from the mastheads of the French and Spanish ships , picked off the Vietnamese gunners . The Vietnamese responded vigorously , but their aim was uncertain , and the French and Spanish soon beat down their fire . The landing companies were sent ashore to assault the forts , and by 8 a . m . both forts were in Spanish hands . Later the same day " capitaine de frégate " Bernard Jauréguiberry , the future French admiral and navy minister , scouted the Citadel of Saigon aboard " Avalanche " . On the morning of 17 February the French and Spanish went ashore and assaulted the citadel . Sergeant des Pallières of the marine infantry was the first to enter the citadel , and once the allies were inside the Vietnamese garrison retreated . A force of around 1 , 000 Vietnamese soldiers attempted to counterattack . Admiral Charner , who was personally directing the action , threw back their attack with Colonel Lanzarote ' s Filipino troops . At 10 a . m . the French and Spanish flags flew above the citadel . Allied occupation of Saigon , February 1859 – February 1860 . The citadel of Saigon was enormous , and the allies did not have enough men to hold it securely . Rigault de Genouilly therefore decided to blow it up . Thirty - two mines were prepared , and on 8 March 1859 the citadel was wrecked . The rice magazines were also set alight , and burned for several months . In April 1859 Rigault de Genouilly returned to Tourane with the bulk of his forces , leaving only a small garrison under the command of " capitaine de frégate " Bernard Jauréguiberry to hold Saigon . Jauréguiberry ' s force consisted of a company of French marine infantry , a company of Filipino light infantry under Spanish command , and 400 sailors to work the French artillery . Rigault also left the corvette " Primauguet " , the gunboats " Avalanche " and " Dragonne " and the transport " Durance " at Saigon . The French repaired the Southern Fort , captured from the Vietnamese in February , and converted it into a stronghold for the garrison . On 21 April 1859 Jauréguiberry launched a surprise attack on a Vietnamese fortification that had been built to the west of the town . The allied attack succeeded and the Vietnamese position was burnt down , but allied casualties were 14 dead and 31 wounded out of a total of 800 men engaged . This was such a heavy loss , given the limited allied numbers , that Jauréguiberry made no further attacks . The Franco - Spanish garrison of Saigon withdrew to the Southern Fort and bided its time . Siege of Saigon , March 1860 to February 1861 . The capture of Saigon proved to be as hollow a victory for the French and Spanish as their earlier capture of Da Nang . Jauréguiberry ' s force at Saigon was too small to venture out of its defences , while Captain Thoyon ' s small French garrison in Da Nang had been placed under siege by the Vietnamese . Meanwhile , the French government was distracted from its Far Eastern ambitions by the outbreak of the Austro - Sardinian War , which tied down large numbers of French troops in Italy . In November 1859 Rigault de Genouilly , whose actions in Cochinchina had come under severe criticism 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 . The Vietnamese , aware of France ' s distraction in Italy , refused these moderate terms and spun out the negotiations in the hope that the allies would cut their losses and abandon the campaign altogether . Meanwhile , the French were unable to reinforce the garrisons of Da Nang and Saigon . Although the Austro - Sardinian War soon ended , by early 1860 the French were again at war with China , and Page had to divert most of his forces to support Admiral Léonard Charner ' s China expedition . In April 1860 Page left Cochinchina to join Charner at Canton , and the defence of Saigon and the neighbouring Chinese town of Cholon , an important commercial centre , was entrusted to " capitaine de vaisseau " d ' Ariès . To garrison these two towns d ' Ariès had a mere 600 marine infantrymen and 200 Spanish troops under the command of Colonel Palanca y Guttierez , supported by the corvettes " Primauguet " , " Norzagaray " and " Laplace " . To augment this modest force the French armed a number of junks to patrol the rivers , and also recruited Annamese and Chinese auxiliaries to take part in the patrols and man the advanced posts . In March 1860 the Franco - Spanish force in Saigon , only 1 , 000 men strong , was placed under siege by a Vietnamese army of about 10 , 000 men , and had to support an eleven - month siege by greatly superior numbers . At the same time , French strength was also being drained by the Siege of Đà Nẵng ( September 1858 to March 1860 ) , and in March 1860 the French evacuated Da Nang . End of the siege . Finally , in the wake of the Anglo - French victory at the Battle of Palikao on 21 September 1860 , which ended the war in China , reinforcements of 70 ships under Admiral Charner and 3 , 500 soldiers under General de Vassoigne were dispatched to Saigon . Charner ' s squadron , the most powerful French naval force seen in Vietnamese waters before the creation of the French Far East Squadron on the eve of the Sino - French War ( August 1884 – April 1885 ) , included the steam frigates " Impératrice Eugénie " and " Renommée " ( Charner and Page ' s respective flagships ) , the corvettes " Primauguet " , " Laplace " and " Duchayla " , eleven screw - driven despatch vessels , five first - class gunboats , seventeen transports and a hospital ship . The squadron was accompanied by half a dozen armed lorchas purchased in Macao . After the arrival of these massive reinforcements , the French were able to defeat the besieging Vietnamese at the Battle of Kỳ Hòa on 25 February 1861 and raise the siege .