Capture of Saigon

Date: February 17, 1859 • Location: Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam

This milestone marked the outbreak and beginning of this historic period, which spanned 1858–1862.

Cochinchina campaign: French Navy forces captured the Citadel of Saigon, defended by 1,000 Vietnamese soldiers of the Nguyễn dynasty.

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. It was the opening conflict of the French conquest of Vietnam.