Nguyễn Trung Trực sinks French gunboat L'Espérance on the Nhật Tao canal

Background. The Cochinchina campaign was a series of military operations between 1858 and 1862, launched by a joint naval expedition force on behalf of the French Empire and the Kingdom of Spain against the Nguyễn period Vietnamese state. In southern Vietnam, resistance forces organized by local leaders fought against French colonial forces. Nguyễn Trung Trực, a fisherman born in 1838, organized and led village militia forces in the Mekong Delta during the 1860s, engaging in seaborne attacks against French naval vessels.

Resistance Forces. Nguyễn Trung Trực organized and led village militia forces which fought against French colonial forces in the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam in the 1860s. These partisan forces grew significantly by June 1861, reaching around 6,000 men at Gò Công. The French reported that junks from Singapore and Hong Kong had arrived with shipments of European-made weapons, supporting the resistance efforts against the colonial administration.

The Ambush. The most notable of the seaborne attacks was Trực's burning of the lorcha L'Espérance on Nhật Tảo canal on 10 December 1861. This event occurred during the period when French forces were consolidating control in southern Vietnam, following the capture of Saigon in 1859 and subsequent military operations in 1861. The attack demonstrated the effectiveness of local guerrilla tactics against French naval assets.