Battle of Toba-Fushimi
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| Battle of Toba-Fushimi | |||||||
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| Part of Boshin War | |||||||
   Top: Engagement of Toba. Shogunate forces on the left, Satsuma forces on the right. Middle: engagement of Fushimi (near Takasegawa). Shogunate forces are on the left, including battalions from Aizu. On the right are forces from Chōshū and Tosa. Bottom: Encounter of Tominomori. Shogunate forces on the left, Chōshū forces on the right. |
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| Combatants | |||||||
| Satsuma, Chōshū, Tosa later: Yodo, Tsu |
Bakufu, Aizu | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Ruler: Meiji Emperor
Army: Saigō Takamori |
Shogun: Tokugawa Keiki
Army: Katsu Kaishu? |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 5,000 combatants | 15,000 combatants | ||||||
| Casualties | |||||||
| unknown | unknown | ||||||
| Boshin War |
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| Toba-Fushimi – Awa – Kōshū-Katsunuma – Utsunomiya Castle – Ueno – Hokuetsu - Bonari Pass – Aizu – Miyako Bay – Hakodate – Hakodate Bay |
The Battle of Toba-Fushimi (Japanese:鳥羽・伏見の戦い) occurred between pro-Imperial and Shogunate forces during the Boshin War in Japan. The battle started on January 27, 1868 (January 3rd according to the Lunar calendar), when the shogunate forces and the forces of Chōshū, Satsuma and Tosa clashed near Toba and Fushimi, and lasted for 4 days, ending with the defeat of the Shogun forces.
The battle started when the Shogunate forces, numbering 15,000, moved in the direction of Kyoto to expel the forces of Satsuma and Chōshū. The forces had occupied the city of Kyoto and the Imperial court on January 3rd, and obtained a proclamation of restoration of Imperial power by the 15 year-old Emperor Meiji.
The forces favorable to the Emperor were protecting the road access to Kyoto: the forces of Satsuma were stationed in Toba, and the forces of Chōshū and Tosa were in Fushimi. The forces of the Shogun encountered them there, but the battle remained inconclusive for two days.
On the second day, the Emperor gave his official flag to the defending troops, and named as General in Chief one of his relatives from the Imperial House, Komatsumiya Akihito (小松宮彰仁親王, 1846-1903), making the forces officially an Imperial army ("Kangun", 官軍).
Further, several local daimyos, heretofore faithful to the Shogun, started to defect with their armies and castles, such as the Daimyo of Yodo (淀藩) on the 5th, and the Daimyo of Tsu (津藩) on the 6th, tilting the military balance in favour of the Imperial side.
On the 7th, Tokugawa Keiki, apparently disturbed by the Imperial seal given to the actions of Satsuma and Chōshū, abandoned combat, and fled from his castle in Osaka, to board the warship Kanrin Maru and reach his capital of Edo. His Osaka castle was soon invested (on March 1, Western calendar), putting an end to the battle of Toba-Fushimi.
Some parts of the 15,000-strong shogunate forces had been trained by French military advisers, but the majority remained medieval samurai forces. Meanwhile the forces of Chōshū and Satsuma were numerically inferior by 3:1 but fully modernized.
