François de Négrier
| François Oscar de Négrier | |
|---|---|
General François de Négrier
|
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| Nickname(s) | Maolen ("Quick!") |
| Born |
2 October 1839 Belfort, France |
| Died | 22 August 1913 (aged 73) off the Norwegian coast |
| Allegiance |
 France |
| Service/branch | French Army |
| Rank | Général de division |
| Commands held | Tonkin Expeditionary Corps (1884) |
| Battles/wars | |
François Oscar de Négrier (2 October 1839 – 22 August 1913) was one of the most charismatic French generals of the Third Republic, winning fame in Algeria in the Sud-Oranais campaign (1881) and in Tonkin during the Sino-French War (August 1884 – April 1885).
Born in Belfort, France on 2 October 1839, De Négrier served with Marshal François Achille Bazaine's Army of the Rhine during the Franco-Prussian War, and was among the thousands of French officers who laid down their arms when Bazaine surrendered his army at Metz. He subsequently escaped from Prussian captivity and joined the armies of national defence for the rest of the war.
De Négrier arrived in Tonkin in February 1884, and was given command of the 2nd Brigade of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps. During the period of undeclared hostilities that preceded the Sino-French War he took part in the Bắc Ninh Campaign (March 1884) and the subsequent campaign to capture Hưng Hóa (April 1884). In June 1884 he was sent by General Charles-Théodore Millot, the general-in-chief of the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps, to the aid of Colonel Alphonse Dugenne with a relief column when the news of the Bắc Lệ ambush reached Hanoi.
During the Sino-French War he commanded the three French columns involved in the Kep Campaign (October 1884). The largest of these columns, under his personal command, defeated the right wing of the Cinese Guangxi Army at the Battle of Kep (8 October). De Négrier was wounded in the leg in this battle, and fell from his horse. His troops, believing that he had been killed, gave no quarter to the Chinese defenders when they stormed the village of Kep. In January 1885 de Négrier won the Battle of Núi Bop, often considered his professional masterpiece. In February 1885 he commanded the 2nd Brigade in the Lạng Sơn Campaign, in which the Tonkin Expeditionary Corps drove the Chinese from their entrenched camps at Dong Song and Bac Vie and captured Lạng Sơn.
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