Battle of Ueno
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Battle of Ueno (上野戦争 Ueno SensÅ) was a battle of the Boshin War, which occurred on July 4, 1868 (Meiji 1, 15th day of the 5th month),[1] between the troops of the ShÅgitai under Shibusawa SeiichirÅ and Amano HachirÅ, and Imperial "Kangun" troops.
Prelude
Though the ShÅgitai was mostly made up of former Tokugawa retainers and residents of the surrounding provinces, some domains supported the ShÅgitai, such as Takada han (Echigo Province, 150,000 koku), Obama han (Wakasa Province, 103,000 koku), Takasaki han (KÅzuke Province, 52,000 koku), and YÅ«ki han (Shimosa Province, 18,000 koku).[2]
Facing them were the combined forces of the ChÅshÅ«, ÅŒmura, Sadowara, Hizen, Chikugo, Owari, Bizen, Tsu, Inaba, and Higo domains, under the general command of ChÅshÅ«'s ÅŒmura MasujirÅ.[3]
Shibusawa and Amano initially had the 2000-strong ShÅgitai posted in Ueno to protect Tokugawa Yoshinobu, who was, at the time, in self-imposed confinement at Ueno's Kan'ei-ji Temple, as well as Prince RinnÅji no Miya Yoshihisa, who was the abbot of the temple,[4] and was to become the new dynastic leader of the Tokugawa resistance as "Emperor TÅbu".
From their base, the Shogitai had been harassing Imperial troops, creating trouble in Edo, thus forcing the Imperial side, although outnumbered, to take action.[5]
Battle
The ShÅgitai took up positions around Kan'ei-ji (寛永寺; an important Tokugawa family temple) and the nearby Nezu Shrine (æ ¹æ´¥ç¥žç¤¾).[6] When the battle began, the forces of Satsuma, led by SaigÅ Takamori, attacked head-on at the gate, but were stopped by the Shogitai forces, which were superior in number. The Satsuma forces suffered heavy casualties, until the forces of Choshu managed to make a second attack from the rear, which unblocked the tactical stalemate.[5] While the Shogitai put up stiff resistance, the Tosa troops also used Armstrong cannons and Snider guns to devastating effect, thus ending the last center of resistance in Edo. According to Saigo Takamori:
"With our ample preparations we made short work of [the enemy], and this is an exceptional and extreme delight."— Saigo Takamori[5]
RinnÅji no Miya escaped, reached Enomoto Takeaki's warship Chogei-maru and was dropped off further north, on the Pacific coast.[6] Harada Sanosuke of the Shinsengumi is said to have joined the ShÅgitai, and died soon after this battle.[7] About 300 Shogitai are said to have died in the battle, and a thousand houses were burnt in collateral damages.
Notes
- ↑ NengoCalc: 明治一年五月å五日; n.b., the old lunar calendar date is sometimes misidentified as "May 15th."
- ↑ Mori Mayumi. ShÅgitai Ibun. TÅkyÅ: ShinkÅsha, 2004, p. 123.
- ↑ Mori Mayumi. ShÅgitai Ibun. TÅkyÅ: ShinkÅsha, 2004, p. 170.
- ↑ Gekidosuru Aizu Boshin Hen. Vol. 5 of Aizuwakamatsu Shi. TÅkyÅ: KokushÅ-kankÅkai, 1981, p. 138
- 1 2 3 The last samurai Mark Ravina p.157
- 1 2 Yamakawa KenjirÅ. Aizu Boshin Senshi TÅkyÅ: TÅkyÅ Daigaku Shuppankai, 1931, p. 196.
- ↑ Kikuchi Akira. Shinsengumi Hyakuichi no Nazo. Tokyo: Shin Jinbutsu Oraisha, 2000, p. 228-9.
Further reading
- Kikuchi Akira. Shinsengumi Hyakuichi no Nazo. TÅkyÅ: Shin Jinbutsu ÅŒraisha, 2000.
- Mori Mayumi. ShÅgitai Ibun. TÅkyÅ: ShinkÅsha, 2004.
- Steele, M. William. Against the Restoration. Katsu Kaishu's Attempt to Reinstate the Tokugawa Family. Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 36, No. 3. (Autumn, 1981), pp. 299–316.
- Steele, M. William. Edo in 1868: The View from Below. Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 45, No. 2. (Summer, 1990), pp. 127–155.
- Takano Kiyoshi. Tokugawa Yoshinobu: Gendai Nihon no Enshutsusha. TÅkyÅ: Nihon HÅsÅ Shuppan KyÅkai, 1997.
- Yamakawa Kenjiro. Aizu Boshin Senshi. Tokyo: Tokyo Daigaku Shuppankai, 1931.