Marc Hautefeuille

Marc Gilbert Paul Hautefeuille (1852-1923) was a French naval officer, who also served as the governor of Monaco from 1909 to 1910. He is chiefly remembered for his bold capture of Ninh Bình when he was serving as a young aspirant under Lieutenant Garnier during the French expedition in Tonkin in late 1873.

Marc Hautefeuille was born on 1 January 1852 in Cormelles-le-Royal, Normandy.

He joined the École navale in 1868, at the age of 16, and fought in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. In October 1871, he was promoted to aspirant. He was then stationed in French Cochinchina where he served on the corvette Decrès.

Between November 1873 and February 1874, Hautefeuille was part of the French Expeditionary Force in Tonkin led by Francis Garnier. Although it was originally supposed to be a peaceful expedition, it soon turned into a full blown conquest of the region when Garnier lost patience after failed negotiations with the local governor.

On 20 November, Garnier attacked the citadel of Hanoi with the 180 men of his expeditionary force. Garnier split the French into three groups. Hautefeuille entered the citadel through the south-eastern gate alongside Garnier and the main French force. The small detachment of sailors he was leading became responsible for the sole "French" casualty of the battle when they accidentally killed an allied Chinese mercenary, after having briefly mistaken them for Vietnamese troops.

After the capture of the city, Lieutenant Garnier unilaterally declared the Red River open to French trade and sent Ensign Adrien Balny d'Avricourt with the gunboat Espingole to receive the submission of the fortified cities of Hưng Yên and Phủ Lý. After havin subdued the cities, Balny d'Avricourt and the Espingole left Phủ Lý on 2 December to go and subdue the city of Hải Dương at the east of the delta.

Meanwhile, in Hanoi, Garnier had been informed that the Governor of Ninh Bình and a runaway mandarin from Hanoi were organizing to resist the French and building dams on the river. On 2 December, Garnier dispatched Hauefeuille, then a 21 years old aspirant, on steam launch with a 4-pounder cannon, seven sailors and an interpreter to deliver an order to attack Ninh Bình to Ensign Balny d'Avricourt in Phủ Lý.

When the steam launch reached Phủ Lý on the evening, Hautefeuille was informed that Balny and the Espingole had departed for Hải Dương earlier that day. He was also notified of a large dam that was being built nearby and immediately decided to go and destroy it.