Nguyen Trung Truc
Encyclopedia
Nguyễn Trung Trực was a Vietnam
ese fisherman who organized and led village militia
forces which fought against French colonial forces in the Mekong Delta
in southern Vietnam in the 1860s. He was active in Tân An (now part of Long An province
) and Rach Gia
(now part of Kien Giang province
) from the initial French invasion
until his capture and execution.
in central Vietnam and attempted to proceed to the Vietnamese imperial capital of Huế
. After meeting stiff resistance, they sailed down to the less-defended south, and quickly captured the Citadel of Saigon
in February 1859, before looting and razing it. The leaderless and defeated imperial troops fled in disarray. The French then withdrew, but returned in 1861 in a more serious attempt to claim and occupy Vietnamese territory. In February of that year, the French attacked the citadel of Ky Hoa, seizing the fort after two days, along with a large quantity of small arms
, artillery
and food. Truong Dinh
, a local partisan leader who fought at Ky Hoa, incorporated soldiers from the defeated imperial army into his ranks, as its commander had committed suicide.
In 1861, the resistance leaders in the Go Cong
area delegated Dinh to travel to Bien Hoa
to seek permission from imperial military commissioner Nguyen Ba Nghi to "turn around the situation". Dinh's men were armed with bladed spears, fire lances, knives, sabers, bamboo sticks and swords, trained and on call as necessary. Truc was one of the partisan leaders who assisted Dinh. Truc's partisan band was based at Tân An
. The French were aware of his activities, with an intelligence dossier calling him a "likable and intelligent man".
In the initial phase of the conflict, the local militias concentrated on evacuating the populace from areas that had been taken over by the French, while urging those who chose to stay to not cooperate with the Europeans. Sniper
s were deployed into the occupied areas to assassinate isolated French soldiers. The partisan forces at Go Cong grew to around 6,000 men by June 1861, and the French had begun to report that junks
from Singapore
and Hong Kong
had arrived with shipments of European-made weapons. The forces began inflicting substantial casualties on the European troops, largely because of their intimate knowledge of the terrain
, skill in hit-and-run guerrilla tactics, and support from villagers. They focused on chasing French soldiers around the countryside, attacking military installations that were left undefended as a consequence of their guerrilla pursuit.
One of the main objectives of the resistance was to disrupt the transport of rice
to Cholon, the main commercial hub of southern Vietnam, by attacking and either destroying or capturing French-controlled cargo transports (called lorchas) using the local waterways. A French report in November 1861 noted that shipping had been severely disrupted despite high levels of French naval protection. The most notable of the seaborne attacks was Truc's burning of the lorcha L'Esperance on Nhat Tao canal
on December 10, 1861.
The attack against L'Esperance started at midday at Nhat Tao village, 10 km southwest of Tân An. Today the site is the location of An Nhat Tan village in Van Co district of Long An Province
. Truc's 150 men were grouped into three columns. The first group of 61 men under Hoang Khac Nhuong was to attack a nearby pro-French village in order to provoke an incident and lure the French forces into an ambush. Truc commanded the second group of 59 partisans along with Vo Van Quang, and was assigned to burn and sink the vessel. A third force of 30 men was commanded by Ho Quang and Nguyen Van Hoc. Their objective was to impede any French reinforcements and to help in the attack on the vessel.
After Nhuong's men had attacked the village, Lieutenant Parfait, commander of the lorcha, instructed his troops to follow them to nearby villages. Truc's group, who had disguised themselves as rice merchants, travelled in five boats and approached the French vessel under the pretext of applying for travel permits. When the boats came within range, Truc and his men boarded
the vessel using hand-to-hand weapons such as knives and bayonets, killing 20 French sailors and their Vietnamese assistants. The attack took place so quickly that the crew were unable to send distress signals for reinforcements. The 30 men under the command of Quang and Hoc, who were intended to block French reinforcements, jumped into the water and used axes to scuttle
the lorcha, before setting it ablaze. Only five of the crew, two French and three Filipinos, managed to escape death by hiding in the bushes by the waterside for three days.
When Lieutenant Parfait returned, he attempted to retaliate against the surrounding villages. However, the villagers had been aware of events and had already been evacuated, so the French officer managed only to burn and destroy the houses, livestock and rice fields.
The attack buoyed local Vietnamese morale and gave them the belief that they could fight against French naval forces. The French Inspector of Indigenous Affairs at Thủ Dầu Một
, Grammont, stated that "This event made a big impression on the Vietnamese. They considered it as a destined turn of their fortune." The sinking earned the specific praise of Emperor Tự Đức, who described the incident as "most outstanding". This prompted the emperor to promote Truc to be the chief of Ha Tien Province.
. This agreement ceded the three southern provinces of Gia Dinh, Dinh Tuong and Bien Hoa
to become the French colony of Cochinchina
. The treaty was accompanied by financial compensation to France, religious concessions to missionaries and commercial opportunities to European merchants. Nevertheless, Truc continued his resistance in defiance of the treaty.
On June 15, 1866, in one attack, he killed five French officers and captured 100 firearms, then returned to Ha Tien where he built up another peasant movement at Cua San.
, killing the French-installed provincial chief and 30 of the opposition troops. In order to capture his strongholds and regain the citadel, the French took his mother hostage. French forces then regained control of the fort and captured Truc, executing him on October 27, 1868.
Despite ordering the partisans to respect the Treaty of Saigon
and stop fighting the French in the south, Tự Đức praised the "righteousness" of Truc and his men. Following Truc's execution, he composed the poem:
Although Truc was disobeying Tự Đức's orders to stop the insurgency, the emperor still viewed his actions as a service to the monarchy.
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
ese fisherman who organized and led village militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
forces which fought against French colonial forces in the Mekong Delta
Mekong Delta
The Mekong Delta is the region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southwestern Vietnam of . The size of the area covered by water depends on the season.The...
in southern Vietnam in the 1860s. He was active in Tân An (now part of Long An province
Long An Province
Long An is a province in the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam.-Administrative divisions:The province comprises one town and 14 districts:#Bến Lức#Cần Đước#Cần Giuộc#Châu Thành#Đức Hòa#Đức Huệ#Mộc Hóa#Tân Hưng...
) and Rach Gia
Rach Gia
Rạch Giá is the capital city of Kien Giang province, Vietnam. It is located around on the coast of Gulf of Thailand, 250 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City...
(now part of Kien Giang province
Kien Giang Province
Kiên Giang is a province of Vietnam, located in the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam. It is known for fishing and rice farming. The provincial capital is Rạch Giá, 250 km from the Ho Chi Minh City...
) from the initial French invasion
Colonization of Cochinchina
The French conquest of Cochinchina – which was the European name for the southern part of Vietnam – occurred in two phases between 1858 and 1867.-Historical background:...
until his capture and execution.
French invasion
The process of Vietnam's colonization began in September 1858 when a Franco-Spanish force landed at Da NangDa Nang
Đà Nẵng , occasionally Danang, is a major port city in the South Central Coast of Vietnam, on the coast of the South China Sea at the mouth of the Han River. It is the commercial and educational center of Central Vietnam; its well-sheltered, easily accessible port and its location on the path of...
in central Vietnam and attempted to proceed to the Vietnamese imperial capital of Huế
Hue
Hue is one of the main properties of a color, defined technically , as "the degree to which a stimulus can be describedas similar to or different from stimuli that are described as red, green, blue, and yellow,"...
. After meeting stiff resistance, they sailed down to the less-defended south, and quickly captured the Citadel of Saigon
Citadel of Saigon
The Citadel of Saigon also known as the Citadel of Gia Dinh was a square Vauban stone fortress that stood in Saigon , Vietnam from its construction in 1790 until its destruction in February 1859...
in February 1859, before looting and razing it. The leaderless and defeated imperial troops fled in disarray. The French then withdrew, but returned in 1861 in a more serious attempt to claim and occupy Vietnamese territory. In February of that year, the French attacked the citadel of Ky Hoa, seizing the fort after two days, along with a large quantity of small arms
Small arms
Small arms is a term of art used by armed forces to denote infantry weapons an individual soldier may carry. The description is usually limited to revolvers, pistols, submachine guns, carbines, assault rifles, battle rifles, multiple barrel firearms, sniper rifles, squad automatic weapons, light...
, artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
and food. Truong Dinh
Truong Dinh
Trương Định , sometimes known as Trương Công Định, was a mandarin in the Nguyễn Dynasty of Vietnam under Emperor Tự Đức. He is best known for leading a guerrilla army in southern Vietnam against the French invasion in defiance of the emperor...
, a local partisan leader who fought at Ky Hoa, incorporated soldiers from the defeated imperial army into his ranks, as its commander had committed suicide.
In 1861, the resistance leaders in the Go Cong
Gò Công
Gò Công is a town district of Tien Giang province in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. The town of Gò Công is not to be confused with East Gò Công and West Gò Công Districts which also belong to Tiền Giang Province....
area delegated Dinh to travel to Bien Hoa
Bien Hoa
Biên Hòa is a city in Dong Nai province, Vietnam, about east of Ho Chi Minh City , to which Bien Hoa is linked by Vietnam Highway 1.- Demographics :In 1989 the estimated population was over 300,000. In 2005, the population wss 541,495...
to seek permission from imperial military commissioner Nguyen Ba Nghi to "turn around the situation". Dinh's men were armed with bladed spears, fire lances, knives, sabers, bamboo sticks and swords, trained and on call as necessary. Truc was one of the partisan leaders who assisted Dinh. Truc's partisan band was based at Tân An
Tân An
Tân An is the capital city of Long An province in Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. It was upgraded from town level to city on 26 August, 2009. The population of Tan An 165,214 , with an area of 81.79 km²...
. The French were aware of his activities, with an intelligence dossier calling him a "likable and intelligent man".
Strategy
Sniper
A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
s were deployed into the occupied areas to assassinate isolated French soldiers. The partisan forces at Go Cong grew to around 6,000 men by June 1861, and the French had begun to report that junks
Junk (ship)
A junk is an ancient Chinese sailing vessel design still in use today. Junks were developed during the Han Dynasty and were used as sea-going vessels as early as the 2nd century AD. They evolved in the later dynasties, and were used throughout Asia for extensive ocean voyages...
from Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
had arrived with shipments of European-made weapons. The forces began inflicting substantial casualties on the European troops, largely because of their intimate knowledge of the terrain
Terrain
Terrain, or land relief, is the vertical and horizontal dimension of land surface. When relief is described underwater, the term bathymetry is used...
, skill in hit-and-run guerrilla tactics, and support from villagers. They focused on chasing French soldiers around the countryside, attacking military installations that were left undefended as a consequence of their guerrilla pursuit.
One of the main objectives of the resistance was to disrupt the transport of rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
to Cholon, the main commercial hub of southern Vietnam, by attacking and either destroying or capturing French-controlled cargo transports (called lorchas) using the local waterways. A French report in November 1861 noted that shipping had been severely disrupted despite high levels of French naval protection. The most notable of the seaborne attacks was Truc's burning of the lorcha L'Esperance on Nhat Tao canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
on December 10, 1861.
Sinking of L'Esperance
The Nhat Tao canal connected the eastern and western branches of the Vam Co River. The French frequently used the Vam Co in their operations, utilising it to travel between the town of Mỹ Tho in the rice-growing Mekong Delta, and Gia Dinh and Cholon, the main city and business hub in southern Vietnam. The strategic importance of Nhat Tao canal to the French transport of rice led them to build three military outposts in close proximity. They were at Rach Kien to the north, Tân An to the east and Gia Thanh to the south. The canal had been the previous object of partisan activity with the objective of disrupting the French network.The attack against L'Esperance started at midday at Nhat Tao village, 10 km southwest of Tân An. Today the site is the location of An Nhat Tan village in Van Co district of Long An Province
Long An Province
Long An is a province in the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam.-Administrative divisions:The province comprises one town and 14 districts:#Bến Lức#Cần Đước#Cần Giuộc#Châu Thành#Đức Hòa#Đức Huệ#Mộc Hóa#Tân Hưng...
. Truc's 150 men were grouped into three columns. The first group of 61 men under Hoang Khac Nhuong was to attack a nearby pro-French village in order to provoke an incident and lure the French forces into an ambush. Truc commanded the second group of 59 partisans along with Vo Van Quang, and was assigned to burn and sink the vessel. A third force of 30 men was commanded by Ho Quang and Nguyen Van Hoc. Their objective was to impede any French reinforcements and to help in the attack on the vessel.
After Nhuong's men had attacked the village, Lieutenant Parfait, commander of the lorcha, instructed his troops to follow them to nearby villages. Truc's group, who had disguised themselves as rice merchants, travelled in five boats and approached the French vessel under the pretext of applying for travel permits. When the boats came within range, Truc and his men boarded
Boarding (attack)
Boarding, in its simplest sense, refers to the insertion on to a ship's deck of individuals. However, when it is classified as an attack, in most contexts, it refers to the forcible insertion of personnel that are not members of the crew by another party without the consent of the captain or crew...
the vessel using hand-to-hand weapons such as knives and bayonets, killing 20 French sailors and their Vietnamese assistants. The attack took place so quickly that the crew were unable to send distress signals for reinforcements. The 30 men under the command of Quang and Hoc, who were intended to block French reinforcements, jumped into the water and used axes to scuttle
Scuttling
Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull.This can be achieved in several ways—valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...
the lorcha, before setting it ablaze. Only five of the crew, two French and three Filipinos, managed to escape death by hiding in the bushes by the waterside for three days.
When Lieutenant Parfait returned, he attempted to retaliate against the surrounding villages. However, the villagers had been aware of events and had already been evacuated, so the French officer managed only to burn and destroy the houses, livestock and rice fields.
The attack buoyed local Vietnamese morale and gave them the belief that they could fight against French naval forces. The French Inspector of Indigenous Affairs at Thủ Dầu Một
Thu Dau Mot
Thủ Dầu Một is the capital town of Binh Duong province, Vietnam. It is located at around .The town has an area of 88 km², population is 158,000, and is located 20 km north of downtown Ho Chi Minh City, on the left bank of the Saigon River, upstream from Ho Chi Minh City...
, Grammont, stated that "This event made a big impression on the Vietnamese. They considered it as a destined turn of their fortune." The sinking earned the specific praise of Emperor Tự Đức, who described the incident as "most outstanding". This prompted the emperor to promote Truc to be the chief of Ha Tien Province.
Later career
However, the overall Vietnamese military performance was not as successful. On June 5, 1862, the court's plenipotentiary Phan Than Gian and another official Lam Duy Hiep signed the Treaty of SaigonTreaty of Saigon
The Treaty of Saigon was signed on June 5, 1862, between representatives of the French Empire and the last precolonial emperor of the Nguyễn Dynasty, Emperor Tự Đức. Based on the terms of the accord, Tự Đức ceded Saigon, the island of Poulo Condor and three southern provinces of what was to become...
. This agreement ceded the three southern provinces of Gia Dinh, Dinh Tuong and Bien Hoa
Bien Hoa
Biên Hòa is a city in Dong Nai province, Vietnam, about east of Ho Chi Minh City , to which Bien Hoa is linked by Vietnam Highway 1.- Demographics :In 1989 the estimated population was over 300,000. In 2005, the population wss 541,495...
to become the French colony of Cochinchina
Cochinchina
Cochinchina is a region encompassing the southern third of Vietnam whose principal city is Saigon. It was a French colony from 1862 to 1954. The later state of South Vietnam was created in 1954 by combining Cochinchina with southern Annam. In Vietnamese, the region is called Nam Bộ...
. The treaty was accompanied by financial compensation to France, religious concessions to missionaries and commercial opportunities to European merchants. Nevertheless, Truc continued his resistance in defiance of the treaty.
On June 15, 1866, in one attack, he killed five French officers and captured 100 firearms, then returned to Ha Tien where he built up another peasant movement at Cua San.
Death
In mid-1868, Truc successfully attacked the French fortress at Kien Giang in Rach GiaRach Gia
Rạch Giá is the capital city of Kien Giang province, Vietnam. It is located around on the coast of Gulf of Thailand, 250 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City...
, killing the French-installed provincial chief and 30 of the opposition troops. In order to capture his strongholds and regain the citadel, the French took his mother hostage. French forces then regained control of the fort and captured Truc, executing him on October 27, 1868.
Despite ordering the partisans to respect the Treaty of Saigon
Treaty of Saigon
The Treaty of Saigon was signed on June 5, 1862, between representatives of the French Empire and the last precolonial emperor of the Nguyễn Dynasty, Emperor Tự Đức. Based on the terms of the accord, Tự Đức ceded Saigon, the island of Poulo Condor and three southern provinces of what was to become...
and stop fighting the French in the south, Tự Đức praised the "righteousness" of Truc and his men. Following Truc's execution, he composed the poem:
Although Truc was disobeying Tự Đức's orders to stop the insurgency, the emperor still viewed his actions as a service to the monarchy.