Battle of Shizugatake

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Battle of Shizugatake
Part of the Sengoku period
Date May 1583 Location Shizugatake, Omi Province, near Lake Biwa Result Toyotomi Hideyoshi victory
Combatants
forces of Toyotomi Hideyoshi	forces loyal to Oda Nobunaga
Commanders
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Kato Kiyomasa, Fukushima Masanori	Shibata Katsuie, Sakuma Morimasa
Strength
20,000 men	Unknown

Campaigns of Toyotomi Hideyoshi
Kōzuki – Itami – Miki – Tottori – Takamatsu – Yamazaki – Uchide-hama – Shizugatake – Komaki – Nagakute – Kaganoi – Takehana – Kanie – Toyama – Ōta Castle – Shikoku & Ichinomiya – Negoroji – Takajō – Ganjaku – Akizuki – Sendaigawa – Kagoshima – Hachigata – Odawara – Shimoda – Korea

In May, 1583, a former general of Nobunaga's named Shibata Katsuie coordinated a number of simultaneous attacks on these fortresses, believing that Hideyoshi could not defend all his forts at once. To that end, Oda Nobutaka attacked the castle at Ōgaki, distracting Hideyoshi while Sakuma Morimasa launched his attack on Shizugatake. However, after meeting Oda Nobutaka at Ōgaki, Hideyoshi turned and led his men to Shizugatake, covering 80 kilometers in just five hours.

Shizugatake was held by Hideyoshi's general Nakagawa Kiyohide. Sakuma Morimasa attacked on orders from Shibata Katsuie, and Nakagawa was killed, but the fortress' defenses held. Hearing that Hideyoshi was coming with reinforcements, Sakuma ordered his men to break the siege lines and prepare to defend themselves.

Hideyoshi's army quickly pushed Sakuma's forces into a rout, and pursued them back to Shibata Katsuie's fortress at Kita-no-shō (Fukui) in Echizen province. They seized the castle, but not before Shibata lit the keep on fire, killed his family, and committed seppuku.

Hideyoshi's chief seven generals in this battle earned a great degree of fame and honor, and came to be known as the shichi-hon yari or 'Seven Spears' of Shizugatake.

[edit] References

• Sansom, George (1961). "A History of Japan: 1334-1615." Stanford: Stanford University Press.
• Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.