command of the naval fores in the China seas and supported the expeditionary force during the Second Opium War. After directing the disembarkation of the troops at Peïo he directed his gunboats to attack the forts that defended the entrance to the river. He was then appointed commander in chief of the land and sea forces in Cochinchina. As soon as the war ended, Charner left for Vietnam in January 1861 with his naval squadron and a force of 3,000 troops to support French troops under Captain Joseph Hyacinthe Louis Jules d'Ariès encircled in Saigon. On February 11, 1861, he relieved the Siege of Saigon, thereby continuing the endeavour of Admiral Charles Rigault de Genouilly, and permitting the establishment of the first French territories in Vietnam. The French Navy Minister Chasseloup-Laubat wrote to Charner: "We wish to draw commerce to Saigon (...) What we want is a sort of suzerainty or sovereignty with free trade accessible to all". After three weeks of combat, ending with the Battle of Kỳ Hòa, Charner managed to relieve the Saigon garrison. These efforts allowed the French to capture three provinces of Cochinchina. Charner was replaced by Admiral Bonard in November 1861, who managed to obtain the recognition of the French conquests by Emperor Tự Đức in 1862, with the June 1862 Treaty of Saigon. Later career Charner returned to France in September 1861, and on 22 January 1862 was made a senator. Until his death he sat with the supporters of the imperial regime. He was promoted to admiral by decree of 15 November 1864. He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour on 10 February 1861. Charner died on 7 February 1869 in Paris. Several French Navy ships have been named after him, such as the French cruiser or the Bougainville-class colonial sloop ("aviso colonial") Amiral Charner (1933) which fought at the Battle of Koh Chang in the 1941 Franco-Thai War. References Sources 1797 births 1869 deaths People from Saint-Brieuc Admirals of France People of the Cochinchina campaign 19th-century French military personnel Governors of Cochinchina