Hoàng Kế Viêm

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Hoàng Kế Viêm Tomb in Trường Sơn Commune, Lệ Thủy district, Quảng Bình province

Hoàng Kế Viêm (1820-1909) was a mandarin, a general of Nguyễn Dynasty. His real name was Hoàng Tá Viêm. He was born in Quang Ninh district, Quang Binh province. He successfully passed the royal exam with title cử nhân (舉人) or "recommended in 1843 under the rule of king Minh Mạng. His wife was princess Hương La, Minh Mang’s daughter.

Hoang Ke Viem played a leading role in the Nguyen dynasty's wars against the French in the second half of the nineteenth century, but with little success. In March 1883 he attempted to overwhelm the weak French garrison of Hanoi but was defeated in the Battle of Gia Cuc. In June 1883, in the wake of Liu Yongfu's victory at the Battle of Paper Bridge, he besieged the small French garrison of Nam Dinh, but his army was defeated on 27 July when the French commandant supérieur Pierre de Badens made a simultaneous frontal and flanking attack on his entrenchments, capturing his entire siege train and forcing the Vietnamese to raise the siege. In December 1883 he took part in the Son Tay Campaign, where his forces shared in Liu Yongfu's defeat. In April 1884 he was driven from Hung Hoa and Dong Van by the French and forced to retreat to Phu Ngo, not far from the southern Tonkinese town of Ninh Binh. Trapped and besieged by General Louis Briere de l'Isle in Phu Ngo in April 1884, he was released in consequence of the conclusion of the Tientsin Accord between France and China on 11 May 1884 and the Treaty of Hue between France and Vietnam on 6 June 1884. During the Sino-French War (August 1884 to April 1885) his forces operated in concert with the Chinese Yunnan Army around Hung Hoa, but to little effect.

Despite his anti-French credentials, Hoang Ke Viem did not support the Can Vuong insurgency against the French in the summer of 1885. Instead of supporting the legitimate king Ham Nghi, he gave his allegiance to Dong Khanh, enthroned by the French in September 1885 and considered by many Vietnamese as a puppet king.