%%With Phong Điền (Thừa Thiên) as native land, Nguyễn Tri Phương (1800-1873) - a general fond of poetry - was descended from a poor family. He went to war with the French in Cochinchina (1861), then came back to Huế to be minister of national defence (1866). On the French offensive in Hà Nội (1873), he commanded the armed forces to safeguard the citadel. Wounded and captured, he went without food and medicine during one month until his death.