Capture of Hưng Hóa The Capture of Hưng Hóa ( 12 April 1884 ) was an important French victory in the Tonkin Campaign ( 1883 – 86 ) . Background . Hưng Hóa was captured by the French a month to the day after the capture of Bắc Ninh . General Charles - Théodore Millot , the commander - in - chief of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps , followed up his victory in the Bắc Ninh Campaign by mopping up scattered Chinese garrisons left behind by the Guangxi Army after the rout at Bắc Ninh by mounting a major campaign against Liu Yongfu ' s Black Flag Army and Prince Hoàng Kế Viêm ' s Annamese forces , which had retreated to Hưng Hóa after their defeat in the Sơn Tây Campaign ( December 1883 ) . In April 1884 Millot advanced on Hưng Hóa with both brigades of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps . March to Hưng Hóa , 4 – 10 April 1884 . The base for the Hưng Hóa campaign was Sơn Tây . General Louis Brière de l ' Isle ' s 1st Brigade set out from Hanoi on 5 April , after parading through the town in an imposing display of strength . General François de Négrier ' s 2nd Brigade , which was deployed around Bắc Ninh and Phu Liang Giang , set off for Hanoi on 4 April . On 5 April the 2nd Brigade spent the entire day crossing the Red River , and on the next day , it paraded through Hanoi on its way west to Sơn Tây . Marching overland from Hanoi past the battlefields of 1883 , the two brigades reached Sơn Tây on 6 – 7 April , respectively . On 8 April both brigades left Sơn Tây , marching toward the Black River , so as to approach Hưng Hóa from the south and the southeast , respectively . Millot sent Colonel Belin ' s marine infantry marching regiment on ahead to seize the village of Tai Bắc on the Black River and fortify it as a base for the river crossing and subsequent march on Hưng Hóa . On 10 April , after a day spent scouting ahead , Brière de l ' Isle ' s 1st Brigade reached the Black River . On 11 April , the brigade set off southwards at dawn on a wide outflanking march to threaten Liu Yongfu ' s line of retreat . The brigade crossed the Black River and marched northwest along the mountain path , approaching Hưng Hóa from the south . Meanwhile , de Négrier ' s 2nd Brigade painfully crossed the Black River at Vu Chu on 10 April . Millot ' s staff had assembled fifteen junks and two tugs for this operation , but de Négrier had nearly 4 , 000 men to get across and a large artillery train . Five French soldiers and a dozen coolies , too impatient to wait their turn to cross the river by junk , tried to swim across and were carried away by the strong current and drowned . These were the only French casualties of the Hưng Hóa operation . At 6 a . m . on 11 April the 2nd Brigade left the Black River and marched due west towards Hưng Hóa . At 9 a . m . the brigade ' s advance guard occupied a position on a wooded height overlooking the Red River above the village of Trung Hà , whose plateau , thickly covered in tall umbrella pines , offered an ideal observation post and firing platform for the French artillery . Hưng Hóa on the southern bank of the Red River , was clearly visible five kilometres to the west . By 10 : 00 , Millot ' s heavy artillery and the bulk of the 2nd Brigade ' s infantry were assembled on the Trung Hà plateau . The Black Flags remained inside Hưng Hóa , and made no attempt to dispute the French advance . Millot had hoped that the gunboats of the Tonkin Flotilla could support the attack , but " Hache " and " Yatagan " drew too much water to sail beyond the confluence of the Red River and the Clear River . Only " Trombe " and " Éclair " reached the junction of the Red and Black Rivers to take part in the upcoming battle . Bombardment and capture of Hưng Hóa , 11 – 12 April 1884 . The Black Flags had thrown up an impressive series of fortifications around Hưng Hóa , but Millot made no attempt to attack the town ' s formidable defences . Having pinned the Black Flags frontally with General de Négrier ' s 2nd Brigade , he subjected Hưng Hóa to a ferocious artillery bombardment from Trung Hà with two 80 - millimetre and one 90 - millimetre artillery batteries . The bombardment began at 10 a . m . on 11 April and lasted for several hours , setting many buildings inside Hưng Hóa alight and inflicting heavy casualties on the Black Flag defenders . The French did not suffer a single battle casualty . The soldiers of the 2nd Brigade spent the day in complete idleness , enjoying the warm spring sunshine and watching the smoke rise silently from Hưng Hóa as the French artillery methodically reduced the town to ruins . While Millot ' s artillery bombarded Hưng Hóa , General Louis Brière de l ' Isle ' s 1st Brigade successfully executed its flank march to the south of Hưng Hóa . On 11 April , seeing Brière de l ' Isle ' s Turcos and marine infantry emerging behind their flank at Xuân Đồng , the Black Flags evacuated Hưng Hóa before they were trapped inside . They set alight the remaining buildings before they left , and on the following morning the French found the town completely abandoned . Order of the day . On 13 April 1884 , Millot issued the following order of the day to mark the capture of Hưng Hóa : Un mois jour pour jour après la prise de Bac - Ninh , vous entrez dans la citadelle de Hong - Hoa . C ' est une nouvelle et brillante victoire , dont la République vous remercie . Si j ' ai été assez heureux pour épargner votre sang , vous m ’ avez en revanche prodigué votre énergie dans les circonstances fréquentes où j ' ai dû y faire appel . Je suis heureux de vous le dire . Si vous avez agrandi notre possession d ' une belle province , vous avez prouvé de nouveau que la France avait de vigoureux soldats animés du plus pur patriotisme . TRANSLATION : " One month to the day after the capture of Bắc Ninh you have entered the citadel of Hong - Hoa . This is a new and splendid victory for which the Republic thanks you . If I have been fortunate enough to have spared your blood , you have repaid me by giving lavishly of your energy on the many occasions I have had to call upon it . I am happy to say that you have not only added a fair province to our possessions but have once again shown that France has vigorous soldiers animated by the purest kind of patriotism . " Aftermath . Given its strategic importance , Millot decided to occupy Hưng Hóa . He appointed Lieutenant - Colonel Jacques Duchesne " commandant supérieur " of Hưng Hóa , and the town was garrisonned with the 1st and 2nd Legion Battalions ( Lieutenant - Colonel Donnier and " chef de bataillon " Hutin ) . The Black Flag Army retreated westwards up the Red River to Thanh Quan , while Prince Hoàng Kế Viêm ' s Vietnamese forces fell back southwards from Dong Yan towards the Annam - Tonkin border , making for the sanctuary of the province of Thành Hóa , where the French had not yet installed any garrisons . Millot dispatched Lieutenant - Colonel Letellier with two Turco battalions and supporting cavalry to harry Liu Yongfu ' s retreat , and sent General Brière de l ' Isle with the rest of the 1st Brigade in pursuit of Prince Hoang . During the last fortnight of April Brière de l ' Isle pursued Prince Hoang ' s forces through the southeast provinces of Tonkin , through towns and villages that had never before seen a French soldier . After entering Đồng Yan and destroying its citadel he faced about and marched down to the Black River , crossed the river at Gran Co , then left the mountains and led his troops down the Day River to Ninh Bình , accepting the submission of small prefectures . Millot sent the gunboats " Carabine " to Phú Lý , and the " Mousqueton " to Ninh Bình to further intimidate inhabitants of the southeast provinces as well as to hunt down stragglers from Prince Hoang ' s army . In early May , Brière de l ' Isle cornered Prince Hoang in Phú Ngô , several kilometres northwest of Ninh Bình , but the French government forbade him to attack the Vietnamese defences , having just received news that China was ready to treat with France over the future of Tonkin . Further French successes in the spring of 1884 , including the capture of Thái Nguyên , had convinced the Empress Dowager Cixi that China should come to terms , and an accord was reached between France and China in May . The negotiations took place in Tientsin . Li Hongzhang , the leader of the Chinese moderates , represented China ; and Captain François - Ernest Fournier , commander of the French cruiser " Volta " , represented France . The Tientsin Accord , concluded on 11 May 1884 , provided for a Chinese troop withdrawal from Tonkin in return for a comprehensive treaty that would settle details of trade and commerce between France and China and provide for the demarcation of its disputed border with Vietnam . It was hoped the Tientsin Accord would resolve the confrontation between France and China in Tonkin , but a clash between French and Chinese troops at Bắc Lè on 23 June 1884 plunged both countries into a fresh crisis . China ' s refusal to pay an indemnity for the Bắc Lệ ambush led two months later to the outbreak of the Sino - French War ( August 1884 – April 1885 ) .