Gustave Ohier
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Marie Gustave Hector Ohier (5 August 1814 – 30 November 1870) was a French admiral who was Acting Governor of Cochinchina from 1868 to 1869.


Early years

Marie Gustave Hector Ohier was born in
Mondoubleau Mondoubleau () is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France. Population See also *Communes of the Loir-et-Cher department A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other ...
, Loir-et-Cher, on 5 August 1814. His parents were Antoine Ohier (born 1787) and Pauline Dehargne (1787–1838). His father, Antoine Alexandre Marie Ohier, was a cloth merchant. He studied at the Collège de Vendôme, then entered the
École Navale École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...
on 15 September 1830. He graduated as a first class pupil on 1 October 1833, and sailed on the ''Meuse'', ''Castor'', ''Bayonnaise'', ''Sirène'' and ''Camille''. He campaigned in Africa, the Levant and Chile. He participated in the
French blockade of the Río de la Plata The French blockade of the Río de la Plata was a two-year-long naval blockade imposed by France on the Argentine Confederation ruled by Juan Manuel de Rosas. It closed Buenos Aires to naval commerce. It was imposed in 1838 to support the Peru ...
and the capture of the fortified
Martín García Island Martín García Island () is the southern half of an island in the Río de la Plata. Martín García is in Uruguayan waters and was disputed between Argentina and Uruguay, but in 1973 they reached an agreement establishing it as Argentine terri ...
between Argentina and Uruguay.


Commissioned officer

Ohier was promoted to ''enseigne de vaisseau'' ( sub-lieutenant) in 1837 and served on the ''Vénus'' and the ''Amazone''. He was made ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' (
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
) in 1843 and was assigned to the ''Labrador''. He was then aide-de-camp to Admiral
Abel Aubert du Petit-Thouars __NOTOC__ Abel Aubert du Petit-Thouars (3 August 1793 – 16 March 1864) was a French naval officer important in France's annexation of French Polynesia. Early life He was born at the castle of La Fessardière, near Saumur. His uncle Aristide Aub ...
in
Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...
until 1848. On 11 January 1847 he married Anaïs Bernard Duhaut-Cilly (1829–1860) in Paris. They had a daughter, Pauline (1847–1920). Ohier commanded the ''Sentinelle'' from 1850 to 1852 in Constantinople. He was appointed ''capitaine de frégate'' (
commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...
) on 17 August 1852, was made second in command of the ''Freidland'' in 1853 and took part in the
Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...
. He directed the naval batteries during the Siege of Sevastopol. He was promoted to ''capitaine de vaisseau'' (
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
) in 1855 and commanded the ''Suffren'', the gunners' training ship, and then the Toulon ''Division des Équipages''. In 1860 he was in command of the '' Gloire'', the world's first active battleship. He was made a Commander of the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
in 1860, and was awarded the Grand Cross of Cambodia.


Commodore

On 2 December 1864 Ohier was promoted to ''contre-amiral'' (commodore) and commanded the '' Ville-de-Paris'' and the ''
Solférino Solférino (; ) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It was created in 1863 by Napoléon III by uniting several neighboring communities. It is named after the Battle of Solferino. Population ...
'', both battleships. Ohier was placed in charge of the Cochin-China Naval Division, while
Pierre-Gustave Roze Pierre-Gustave Roze (28 November 1812 – November 1883) was a French admiral. He was born in Toulon, France, and throughout his adult life served as a career naval officer. As a young rear admiral (contre-amiral) he served in Mexico during th ...
was in charge of the Far East Naval Division. The two admirals visited Hong Kong, where they met the French architect
Achille-Antoine Hermitte Achille Antoine Hermitte (24 June 1840–) was a French architect who is known for designing the Hong Kong City Hall and the Palais du Gouverneur, Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). His life is not well-documented and there is uncertainty about the date ...
and were impressed by him. On their recommendation Admiral
Pierre-Paul de La Grandière Pierre Paul Marie Benoît de La Grandière (28 June 1807 – 25 August 1876) was a French admiral who was Governor of the colony of Cochinchina from 1863 to 1868. He consolidated French control over Vietnam, and developed the city of Saigon as a m ...
, Governor of Cochinchina, made Hermitte head of his architectural department. In 1867 Ohier visited Japan on the ''Hermione''. In February 1868 Ohier, the new commander in the China Seas, had an audience with the former
shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...
,
Tokugawa Yoshinobu Kazoku, Prince was the 15th and last ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan. He was part of a movement which aimed to reform the aging shogunate, but was ultimately unsuccessful. He resigned his position as shogun in late 1867, while ai ...
, in
Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...
, Japan. He politely but firmly made it clear that he would not make a military intervention in his favour. This ensured that if the French minister
Léon Roches Léon Roches (27 September 1809 – 1901) was a French diplomat. He was a representative of the French government in Japan from 1864 to 1868. Early life and education Léon Roches was born on 27 September 1809 in Grenoble. He was a student at the ...
offered military aid to the Shōgun it would not have persuaded him to actively resist the emperor. Ohier was recalled from Japan to become Acting Governor of
Cochinchina Cochinchina or Cochin-China (, ; ; ; ; ) is a historical exonym and endonym, exonym for part of Vietnam, depending on the contexts, usually for Southern Vietnam. Sometimes it referred to the whole of Vietnam, but it was commonly used to refer t ...
in place of La Grandière, who had fallen ill and had to return to France. When leaving
Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...
the admiral gave orders for the '' Dupleix'' to survey the river on which
Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
stands and the coast as far as
Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its '' kofun'', keyhole-shaped burial mounds dating from the fifth century. The ''kofun ...
. A group of sailors on a steam launch was attacked on 7 March 1868 and a midshipman and ten sailors were killed. Ohier was acting governor from 4 April 1868 to 10 December 1869. In 1868 Ohier founded the Documentation Library of the Government of Cochinchina (Bibliothèque de Documentation du Gouvernement de la Cochinchine Française), which would become the
General Sciences Library of Ho Chi Minh City The General Sciences Library of Ho Chi Minh City is a Vietnamese public library. It is run by the Department of Culture and Sports of Ho Chi Minh City. The library's main functions are to collect, preserve and organise library resources. The lib ...
. In 1869 he was promoted to Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour. He signed the Treaty of the West Mekong on 25 August 1869, but was unable to persuade the emperor of Vietnam to confirm French rule over the three provinces they had seized. He attended the informal opening of the new Palais du Gouverneur, Saigon, on 25 September 1869, which Hermitte had designed. In 1869 Ohier said that the commercial well-being of the colony depended on the Chinese: "it is upon them that we must count to draw ... commerce to Saigon." He refused to shield French traders from competition. He said he had been "as favorable as possible towards business, but ... refused to grant it the least subsidy." Ohier fell ill and had to return to France at the start of 1870. He was succeeded as acting governor of Cochinchina on 10 December 1869 by Joseph Faron, who held office until Alphonse de Cornulier-Lucinière arrived to assume the governorship. Ohier died on 30 November 1870 in Saint-Louis, near
Fayence Fayence (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. Fayence is one of a series of "perched villages" ov ...
, Var. He is buried in
Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...
's central cemetery. The rue Ohier in Saigon was named in his honour, later to be called Tôn Thất Thiệp street. A street in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, was also named after him, since renamed Street 13.


Notes


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ohier, Marie Gustave Hector 1814 births 1870 deaths French Navy admirals Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Governors of Cochinchina