Siege of Osaka
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| Siege of Osaka | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the early Edo period | |||||||||
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| Combatants | |||||||||
| Tokugawa shogunate | Toyotomi clan | ||||||||
| Commanders | |||||||||
| Tokugawa Ieyasu | Toyotomi Hideyori | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 194,000 | 113,000 | ||||||||
| Siege of Osaka |
|---|
| Imafuku - Shigeno - Kizugawa - Toda-Fukushima - Sanada-maru - Kashii - Dōmyōji - Yao - Wakae - Tennoji |
The Siege of Osaka (大坂の役 (Ōsaka no Eki?), most commonly 大坂の陣 (Ōsaka no Jin?)) was a series of battles undertaken by the Tokugawa shogunate against the Toyotomi clan, and ending in that clan's destruction. Divided into two stages (Winter Campaign and Summer Campaign), and lasting from 1614 to 1615, the siege put an end to the last major armed opposition to the shogunate's establishment.
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[edit] Outset
When Toyotomi Hideyoshi died in 1598, Japan came to be governed by the Council of Five Elders, among whom Tokugawa Ieyasu possessed the most authority. After defeating Ishida Mitsunari in the battle of Sekigahara, Ieyasu essentially seized control of Japan for himself, and abolished the Council. In 1603, the Tokugawa shogunate was established, with its capital at Edo. Ieyasu sought to establish a powerful and stable regime under the rule of his own clan; only the Toyotomi, led by Hideyoshi's son Toyotomi Hideyori and based at Osaka, remained as an obstacle to that goal.
[edit] Winter Campaign
In 1614, the Toyotomi clan rebuilt Osaka Castle, along with a nearby shrine. The renovations included a bell, with an inscription that read "May the state be peaceful and prosperous; In the East it greets the pale moon, and in the West bids farewell to the setting sun.". The shogunate, which had its power base in the eastern provinces, interpreted this as an insult, and tensions began to grow between the Tokugawa and the Toyotomi clan. The tension was only increased when Toyotomi Hideyori began to gather a force of ronin and enemies of the shogunate in Osaka. By November of that year, Ieyasu, despite having passed the title of Shogun on to his son in 1605, nevertheless maintained significant influence, and decided not to let this force grow any larger, leading 194,000 men to Osaka.
The siege was begun on November 19, when Ieyasu led three thousand men across the Kizu River, destroying the fort there. A week later, he attacked the village of Imafuku with 1,500 men, against a defending force of 600. With the aid of a squad wielding arquebuses, the shogunal forces claimed another victory. Several more small forts and villages were attacked before the siege on Osaka Castle itself began on December 4.
The Sanada-maru was an earthwork barbican defended by Sanada Yukimura and 7,000 men, on behalf of the Toyotomi. The Shogun's armies were repeatedly repelled, and Sanada and his men launched a number of attacks against the siege lines, breaking through three times. Ieyasu then resorted to artillery, bringing in 300 cannon, as well as men to dig under the walls. On January 22, the Winter Siege was ended, with Toyotomi Hideyori pledging to not rise in rebellion, and allowing the moat of Osaka castle to be filled in.
[edit] Summer Campaign
In April 1615, Ieyasu received word that Toyotomi Hideyori was gathering even more troops than in the previous November, and that he was trying to stop the filling of the moat. Toyotomi forces (often called the Western Army) began to attack contingents of the Shogun's forces (the Eastern Army) near Osaka. On April 29, they raided Wakayama Castle, a coastal fortress belonging to Asano Nagaakira, an ally of the Shogun. Asano's men sallied forth from the castle, attacking the invaders, and driving them off. By early June, the Eastern army had arrived, before Hideyori managed to secure any land to use against them. At the battle of Dōmyōji, on June 6, 2,600 of his men encountered 23,000 of the Eastern Army. Hideyori's commander at the battle, Gotō Mototsugu, attempted to retreat into the fog, but the battle was lost and he was killed.
After another series of shogunate victories on the outskirts of Osaka, the Summer Campaign came to a head at the battle of Tennoji. Hideyori planned a hammer-and-anvil operation, in which 55,000 men would attack the center of the Eastern Army, while a second force, of 16,500 men, would flank them from the rear. Another contingent waited in reserve. Ieyasu's army was led by his son, the Shogun Tokugawa Hidetada, and numbered around 155,000. They moved in four parallel lines, prepared to make flanking maneuvers of their own. Mistakes on both sides nearly ruined the battle, as Hideyori's ronin split off from the main group, and Hidetada's reserve force moved up without orders from the main force. In the end, however, Hideyori's commander Sanada Yukimura was killed, destroying the morale of the Western Army. The smaller force led directly by Hideyori sallied forth from Osaka Castle too late, and was chased right back into the castle by the advancing enemies; there was no time to set up a proper defense of the castle, and it was soon ablaze, and being pummeled by artillery fire. Hideyori committed seppuku, and the final major uprising against Tokugawa rule for another 250 or so years was put to an end.
[edit] References
- Davis, Paul K. (2001). "Besieged: 100 Great Sieges from Jericho to Sarajevo." Oxford: Oxford University Press.
The article incorporates text from OpenHistory.
[edit] See also
- Winter Campaign (大坂冬の陣 Osaka Fuyu no Jin)
- Battle of Imafuku
- Battle of Shigeno
- Battle of Kizugawa
- Battle of Toda-Fukushima
- Siege of Sanada-maru
- Summer Campaign (大坂夏の陣 Osaka Natsu no Jin)
- Battle of Kashii
- Battle of Dōmyōji
- Battle of Yao
- Battle of Wakae
- Battle of Tennoji
