Annam, Capture of Hué, 1885. SIGNED AUTOGRAPH LETTER BY ADOLPHE CHOMARIN, corporal in the 3rd Company of the 11th Chasseurs, SENT TO A COLONEL, Hué August 1, 1885. 18999-6.

Annams, Capture of Hué, 1885. SIGNED AUTOGRAPH LETTER FROM ADOLPHE CHOMARIN, corporal in the 3rd Company of the 11th Chasseurs, ADDRESSED TO A COLONEL, Hué August 1st, 1885. 18999-6

Rare and beautiful testimony on the capture of Hué and the treasure of the King of Annam.

"Hué, August 1st, 1885.
My Colonel,
Here is the first mail that is sent since July 15th. Therefore, I take this opportunity to inquire about your well-being and provide you with news of my own... The heat here is excessive, and there have been terrible storms. Three days ago, lightning struck a tree where a fire immediately started.
I now reside in the citadel that we captured, and it is my company that has the most beautiful quarters. We are lodged in the Royal Pagoda, which is very vast and beautiful. When we entered, there were at least three hundred gods made of gilded bronze, painted bronze, or gold. Additionally, the sacred porcelain vases from China and the draperies of embroidered silk in gold and silver gave an unusual brilliance to the prayer rooms of the Annamites.
Moreover, it is astonishing the amount of riches that were found in the citadel. The entire treasure was located in the Royal Palace, where there were approximately seven to eight hundred crates of silver or gold ingots, not to mention crates of diamonds, piastres, etc... [...] There were numerous arsenals full of cannons, rifles, lances, machetes, balls, and gunpowder. I still wonder how we managed to capture a citadel so well-equipped, so well-fortified, and defended by so many men.
The King of Annam, who refused to hand over eight million, was forced to leave us all his treasures and one of his citadels. Seeing the treasure of this little King of Annam, I wonder what must be the treasure of the emperor of China. I saw magnificent silks that have a great value as local color. The king's ceremonial robe was made of yellow silk, embroidered with diamonds around the neck and wrists [...]
One of the drawbacks of this country is the snakes; they are very venomous and in great numbers. [...]
I bid you farewell, my Colonel, until the next mail [...]. Give my regards to Germaine and Robert. Octave sends his respects to you and his cousins. I will write to Germaine soon, as I believe she must be advancing in her reading, and it may bring her pleasure.
Signed: Adolphe Ch

Double leaf, 4 pages of writing. in-8.
Very good condition.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
The French protectorate of Annam, located in the center of present-day Vietnam, is a territory under the protection of France. After an initial treaty signed in 1883, the treaty of Hué, signed the following year, placed the empire of Annam under the indirect administration of France. Tonkin (North) was placed under a separate protectorate regime before being detached from Annam. The Vietnamese territory is now divided into three, including Cochinchina annexed in 1862. The name Annam, used in the West to refer to Vietnam as a whole by adopting the appellation used by the Chinese, is later used to designate the central part of the country.
In 1887, Annam is, like Tonkin and Cochinchina, placed under the authority of the Governor-General of French Indochina, based in Hanoi, while the court of the Emperor of Annam, who remains officially the sovereign of Annam and Tonkin, is located in Hué. Annam is called Trung Kỳ in Vietnamese ("Central Region"), with Vietnamese nationalists preferring the term Trung Bộ ("Central Region").
In 1948, Annam is reunified with Tonkin under the Provisional Central Government of Vietnam. Cochinchina joins the other territories the following year, and the State of Vietnam is then proclaimed.

THE CAPTURE OF HUÉ, July 4th and 5th, 1885.
The capture of Hué on July 4th and 5th, 1885, resulted in 11 French deaths and 1500 Vietnamese deaths, including a significant number of civilians. The brutality reflected in the numbers underscores the technical superiority of the colonial troops, equipped with long-range artillery and rapid-loading ventral rifles.
[...] In 1883, reacting to hostilities fueled by the Chinese and their auxiliaries, the Black Flags, and desiring to definitively open the route to Tonkin, the French began the expedition under the impetus of the then Prime Minister, Jules Ferry. The enterprise faced difficulties and led to a political crisis in March 1885, resulting in the fall of the Ferry government, attacked by the monarchist right and the radical far-left, led by Clemenceau. Nevertheless, the expedition ended with the definitive subjugation of the Annamese imperial government and the withdrawal of the Chinese, who relinquished their suzerainty over Annam. French Indochina was officially established two years later.
[...] Through the Tien-Tsin convention, China recognized French conquests and promised to withdraw its troops from Tonkin. However, an incident reignited the conflict, with Admiral Courbet resuming his campaign against the Chinese coasts. Partial peace was only restored on June 9th, 1885, with troubles resuming in the Hué region until December 1885.