Siege of Saigon

Siege of Saigon
Part of Cochinchina campaign

French warships off Saigon, February 1859
Date18 February 1859 – 25 February 1861
Location
Result French and Spanish victory
Belligerents
French Empire
Spanish Empire
Đại Nam
Commanders and leaders
Rigault de Genouilly Vũ Duy Ninh
Trương Văn Uyển

The siege of Saigon, a two-year siege of the city by the Vietnamese after its capture on 17 February 1859 by a Franco-Spanish flotilla under the command of the French admiral Charles Rigault de Genouilly, was one of the major events of the Cochinchina campaign (1858–1862). Saigon was of great strategic importance, both as the key food-producing area of Vietnam and as the gateway to Cochinchina.