The story of the Hue citadel begins with a man named Gia Long. Gia Long was the Emperor of Vietnam from 1804 – 1820 and the founder of the Nguyen Dynasty. He is also the man credited with the creation of what is now the shape of modern-day Vietnam. He unified Vietnam creating a state from the Gulf of Tonkin to the Mekong Delta. He did this by defeating the Tay Son Rebellion and ended one of the most turbulent times in Vietnam’s history. Emperor Gia Long started construction of the citadel in 1804. His successors would make additions to the palace in the century and half following Gia Long’s death. The Nguyen Dynasty which would rule Vietnam for 143 years until the last Nguyen emperor Bao Dai would abdicate his ‘mandate of heaven’ to Ho Chi Minh in 1945.

Along with his conquests and his incredible building efforts Gia Long is also credited with finalizing the name Viet Nam. After the reunification of Vietnam was competed, he sent a tribute to the Chinese emperor Jiaqing Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. Gia Long was hoping for official recognition of his new kingdom and suggested the name of Nam Viet. The Emperor refused this name because there was another older kingdom who also had the name Nam Viet. So, the name Viet Nam was agreed to. And the name has stuck ever since.  

To solidify his holdings, he ordered the construction of a fortification of Saigon to protect the rice harvests from raiders with the help of his new French advisors. This would be the first of his numerous building projects. After the completion of this citadel the raids on the fertile Mekong Delta ceased (or declined significantly at least). This convinced Gia Long of the effectiveness of advanced French designed fortifications so much that he ordered 11 more to be built, including his new capital of Hue. Unfortunately, this required an enormous amount of expenditure in money and in manpower. Thousands of peasants were conscripted into the labor force and away from the essential work of rice farming. The poor peasants were worked day and night while corrupt officials whisked away the money as the rice fields turned fallow. Most of the forts were built in the European style except for the citadel of Hue which was based on China’s forbidden city.

To decide where to build the citadel geomancers were consulted and the current location was consulted. Although it is not documented some historians says that the location was chosen because the surrounding mountains resembled dragons and lions and this would bring protection to the emperor. A moat was dig and two thick walls 2 kilometers by 2 kilometers were built along with sluice gates to protect the entrance. Within these walls is the imperial city itself which in turn was protected by another rampart which was 2.5 kilometers in length.  The most important building was the Purple Forbidden City where the emperor and his family lived. Unfortunately, nothing remains of what I’m sure was an incredible building. There were also pavilions, gardens and pagodas located within the forbidden city. Many of which were destroyed but have since been rebuilt or restored.

The story of Gia Long is a fascinating one and without him there would be no Hue Citadel that tourists get to enjoy today. I hope to write more about him in the future.

One of the more interesting residents of the citadel was the Nguyen King, Minh Mang who had 300 wives and fathered 142 children. I think one wife is a lot of work. Could you imagine 300.

Hue continued to be the seat of power for the whole of Vietnam. After the 1880s Hue served as a symbolic seat of power for the Nguyen emperors after the creation of the French protectorate. In one of my earlier posts I write about visiting the summer residence of the final Nguyen Emperor, Bao Dai, in Da Lat. After Bao Dai abdicated the citadel fell out of use and suffered greatly from intense humidity, termites, inclement weather and most importantly, from the ravages of war.

The first shots fired within the city of Hue took place in the siege of Hue during the First Indochina War. In December of 1946, the Viet Minh responded to a French demand of disarmament by doing the opposite, they besieged the French garrison within Hue. In the enduring six weeks of the siege, the citadel was burned and the city ransacked for supplies before the Viet Minh withdrew in February of 1947. The French garrison maintained their control of city but many of the historical places had been destroyed.

Most famous was the Battle of Hue in 1968 during the famous Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War.

The Battle of Hue was one of the most fearsome and bloody battles of the whole Vietnam War. It was part of the infamous Tet offensive where the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong launched a mass surprise attack against almost every major city in South Vietnam.

Tet, is the Vietnamese version of the Lunar New Year, it is the most important holiday of the year (our version of Christmas). Most of the soldiers of the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam) or South Vietnamese Army were on leave visiting their families. The commanders in Hanoi believed it was a perfect time to strike. The politicians and arm chair generals also believed that the ordinary people of South Vietnam would arise in revolt against the government upon seeing their North Vietnamese “liberators”.

The commanders of the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) and Viet Cong (Viet Cong), those actually in the field and thus had more knowledge of the situation, were skeptical of such claims but the big brass in Hanoi insisted on the plan going forward. The great Vietnamese general Vo Nguyen Giap, seemed to be against such a plan but the First Party Secretary, Le Duan, ignored Vo’s claims and ordered the offensive to proceed.

As for the Americans, they were too preoccupied with the Siege of Khe Sanh (which I wrote about earlier) to concern themselves with a defense of the major cities. They believed that the small garrisons would be enough.

The Tet offensive started with a bang as attacks sprung up across many of the major cities of Vietnam. In Saigon, a small team managed to capture of the basement of the American embassy. With the news cameras rolling American Military Police fought a pitched battle with the entrenched infiltration team, eventually recapturing the embassy. To the surprise of the NVA and Viet Cong there was no general uprising against the South Vietnamese government. Throughout Vietnam, after the initial surprise of the attacks the Americans and the South Vietnamese were able to rally and repulse the NVA and VC within a fairly short time. Except, for Hue. It was in the ancient imperial citadel of Hue that the fiercest battle of the Tet offensive was fought.

In the very early morning hours of January 31, 1968, VC infiltration teams, sometimes wearing South Vietnamese army uniforms, overpowered the sleepy guards and swung open the gates to the citadel. The NVA and VC charged in, intent upon capturing the whole of the citadel. Determined South Vietnamese army soldiers fought back slowing their advance. In the North West of the citadel a back and forth battle between the NVA/VC and 150 members of the elite Black Panther Reconnaissance company raged over control of the Tay Loc airfield.

Realizing they were outnumbered the South Vietnamese army commander, Ngo Quang Truong, ordered a withdrawal into his HQ, the Mang Ca compound in the North East of the citadel.

As the fight for the airfield raged the first attack against the Mang Ca compound occurred but the officers and clerks put down their pens and reached for the rifles and managed to repulse the first attack. After the first attack was repulsed the Black Panthers from the airfield tactically withdrew and snuck into the defensible Mang Ca compound adding to the defense of the HQ.

At 8:00 in the morning the Red Flag and Yellow star hanged over the citadel, but the North Vietnamese had failed to completely capture the citadel because the Mang Ca compound within the citadel was still holding out and would hold out until the end of the battle.

Outside of the citadel, within the city of Hue itself, the NVA rained mortars down upon the city and attacked the MACV (Military Assistance Command, Vietnam) compound. The attack, however, was repulsed by disciplined marine defenders. The NVA would keep both the MACV HQ and the Mang Ca compound surrounded but would attempt no further assaults upon these locations. Reinforcements were called and the defenders readied themselves for the siege.

ARVN tanks and armored cars rushed north to Hue in an attempt to break the siege but the NVA countered with ambushes and armored piercing weapons preventing the ARVN armor from breaking the siege.

The next day the Marines made their move upon Hue. Despite encountering serious setbacks at the bridge into Hue, for instance the M48 tanks were too heavy for the bridges, they managed to fight their way to the MACV headquarters lifting the brief siege. The fighting was terrible. To avoid being caught out in the open streets where marines would be easy targets for snipers the marines blew holes in the walls of houses and traveled through the city this way. This led to brutal house to house fighting. The next step was to recapture the citadel itself. During this time the Tay Loc airfield had been recaptured and some helicopters were able to land to bring reinforcements and evacuate the wounded.

To recapture the citadel South Vietnamese Army and US Marine Corp would work together. The ARVN had succeeded in recapturing the North and West of the citadel but the imperial palace itself still remained out of reach. The South Vietnamese commander, Ngo Quang Truong, ordered no artillery or air strikes against the palace itself in order to avoid damage to the historical site. After some failed attempts to finally capture failed the American and South Vietnamese commanders met and they agreed to use all necessary force to recapture the citadel including the use of overwhelming fire power regardless if the historical places were destroyed.

On the 16^th of February the NVA commander requested that he be allowed to retreat but his request was denied and was ordered to fight to the end.

On the 23^rd of February, after terrible fighting and bloodshed and destruction the palace was finally captured. The South West corner of the citadel was captured by South Vietnamese marines on the 25^th of February. The Ancient Capital of Vietnam had finally been captured. Three months after the opening shots of the Tet Offensive.

By the 2^nd of March all clean up operations in Hue and the surrounding area had been concluded, including a bloody battle on Gia Hoi Island where the last of the Communist cadres help up in a pagoda and fought to the bitter end.

Thus, ended the battle of Hue but the effects of this battle would be long lasting. Most of the battles that were fought during the Tet offensive were over within a week. The Battle of Hue lasted more than 2 months. The NVA and the VC had suffered 5,000 killed and wounded, the South Vietnamese suffered 2,500 dead and wounded and the Americans suffered nearly 1,800 dead and wounded. Thousands more civilians were killed or wounded and the majority of the population was left homeless.

Most tragically was the massacre of civilians perpetrated by communist cadres for the crime of being “enemies of the people”. At least 2,800 bodies were exhumed but the number of people killed by the communists could have been much higher.

From a military point of view, it was an enormous defeat for the North Vietnamese Army and the Viet Cong. War, however, is never that simple. News cameras were rolling throughout the entire offensive and the idea that “the end was in sight” was rejected by the American public.

CBS News anchorman, Walter Cronkite, was filming in southern Hue and he made an apt quote which succinctly captured the opinion of the American public.
“But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could.”

American Public opinion firmly turned against the war after the Tet offensive and the battle of Hue.

After the communist victory of 1975 the imperial citadel of Hue was neglected because it was “relics from the feudal regime” which oppressed the people and had no place in the new communist Vietnam. Eventually, with both the desire of preserving the rich culture and history of Vietnam and seeing the potential for tourism the Citadel started to be restored.

The Citadel was made a UNESCO world heritage site in 1993.

Restoration has proven difficult because there a few to no photographs of the palace interiors. Heritage expert William Logan, is concerned that restoration will be “overdone” and the citadel would be turned into a theme park. I, for one, am just grateful that I could experience the beauty, history and even the tragedy of the Ancient Capital of Hue