French assistance to Nguyễn Ánh

From 1777, Mgr Pigneau de Behaine, of the Paris Foreign Missions Society, had taken to protecting the young Vietnamese prince who was fleeing from the offensive of the Tây Sơn.

The French first intervened in the dynastic battles of Vietnam in 1777 when 15-year-old Prince Nguyễn Ánh, fleeing from an offensive of the Tây Sơn, received shelter from Mgr Pigneau de Behaine in the southern Principality of Hà Tiên.

[1] Pigneau de Behaine and his Catholic community in Hà Tiên then helped Nguyễn Ánh take refuge on Thổ Chu Island (Pulo Panjang).

[1] These events created a strong bond between Nguyễn Ánh and Pigneau de Behaine, who took a role of protector over the young prince.

[11] The French administration in Pondicherry, led by the interim Governor Coutenceau des Algrains, successor of Bussy, seconded by Captain d'Entrecasteaux, was resolutely opposed to intervening in southern Vietnam, stating that it was not in the national interest.

News of his activities reached Rome where he was denounced by the Spanish Franciscans, and offered Prince Cảnh and his political mandate to the Portuguese.

[13] Arriving in February 1787 with the child prince Canh at the court of Louis XVI in Versailles,[14] Pigneau had difficulty in gathering support for a French expedition to install Nguyễn Ánh on the throne.

Eventually, he was able to seduce the technicians of military action with his precise instructions as to the conditions of warfare in Indochina and the equipment for the proposed campaign.

Four frigates, 1650 fully equipped French soldiers and 250 Indian sepoys were promised in return for Pulo Condore and harbour access at Tourane (Da Nang).

[23] A few days after the treaty was signed, the foreign minister sent instructions on 2 December 1787 to the Governor of Pondicherry Thomas Conway, which left the execution of the treaty to his own appreciation of the situation in Asia, stating that he was "free not to accomplish the expedition, or to delay it, according to his own opinion"[24] The party would leave France in December 1787 on board the Dryade,[25] commanded by M. de Kersaint and accompanied by the Pandour, commanded by M. de Préville.

[26] The Dryade was ordered by Conway to continue to Poulo Condor to meet with Nguyễn Ánh and deliver him 1,000 muskets bought in France and Father Paul Nghi, a Cochinchinese missionary devoted to Mgr Pigneau.

[27] Jean-Marie Dayot deserted the Pandour and was put in charge of supplies, transporting weapons and ammunitions on his ship the St. Esprit.

[35] Jean-Marie Dayot also did considerable hydrographic work, making numerous maps of the Vietnamese coast, which were drawn by his talented brother.

[37] Nguyễn Ánh and Mgr Pigneau de Behaine also relied on French officers to obtain weapons and ammunitions throughout Asia through trade.

In 1797–98, he travelled to Madras to obtain the remittance of the Armida, a warship belonging to Barizy, in the service of Nguyễn Ánh, which had been captured by the East India Company in 1797.

[38] Barizy, who had entered the service of Nguyễn Ánh in 1793, also sailed to Malacca and Pulau Pinang to exchange Cochinchinese products against weapons.

[38] According to one missionary, he was: "Agent and deputy of the king of Cochinchina with the various governors of India, in order to obtain all that he needed".Pigneau died at the siege of Qui Nhơn in October 1799.

Pigneau de Behaine was the object of several funeral orations on behalf of emperor Gia Long and his son Prince Cảnh.

[40] In a funeral oration dated 8 December 1799, Gia Long praised Pigneau de Behaine's involvement in the defense of the country, as well as their personal friendship: "(...) Pondering without end the memory of his virtues, I wish to honour him again with my kindness, his Highness Bishop Pierre, former special envoy of the kingdom of France mandated to obtain a sea-based and land-based military assistance sent by decree by warships, him, this eminent personality of the Occident received as a guest of honour at the court of Nam-Viet (...) Although he went to his own country to address a plea for help and rally the opinion in order to obtain military assistance, he was met with adverse conditions midway through his endeavour.

Our agreement was such that we always desired to be together (...) From the beginning to the end, we were but one heart (...)"The French forces in Vietnam continued the fight without him, until the complete victory of Nguyễn Ánh in 1802.

Before seeing the enemy navy, I used to despise it, but I assure you this was misconceived, they had vessels with 50 to 60 cannons.On June 5, 1801, Nguyen left with his fleet for the north, and ten days later succeeded in capturing Huế.

"With the death of Gia Long and the advent of Minh Mạng, relations strained considerably, and French advisors left the country.

Persecutions would follow, leading to the killing of numerous missionaries such as Joseph Marchand in 1835, Jean-Charles Cornay in 1837, or Pierre Borie in 1838, as well as local Catholics.

The French sank the Vietnamese fleet in Da Nang in the Bombardment of Đà Nẵng (1847), and negotiation with Emperor Thiệu Trị broke down.