Episode 1 of 2

French Columns Depart Hanoi

When
11 December 1883
Where
Hanoi
Part of
Tonkin Campaign: French forces capture the Sơn Tây citadel

French columns set off from Hanoi at dawn on 11 December 1883 to launch the campaign against Sơn Tây.

The campaign began on 11 December 1883. Both French columns departed from Hanoi at dawn on this date. The operation targeted the strategically important city of Sơn Tây in Tonkin, held by Liu Yongfu's Black Flag Army and allied contingents of Vietnamese and Chinese troops.

Sources

  1. Sơn Tây campaign Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-22

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.