Battle of Ueno

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The attack on Kan'eiji Temple, labeled here as "The attack of Honnōji" (本能寺) in the Battle of Ueno. The Shogitai (彰義隊) troops are on the left, in samurai garb, and Imperial troops with modern uniforms are on the right (the "Red bear" (赤熊, Shaguma) wigs indicate soldiers from Tosa).
The attack on Kan'eiji Temple, labeled here as "The attack of Honnōji" (本能寺) in the Battle of Ueno. The Shogitai (彰義隊) troops are on the left, in samurai garb, and Imperial troops with modern uniforms are on the right (the "Red bear" (赤熊, Shaguma) wigs indicate soldiers from Tosa).
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Boshin War

The Battle of Ueno (Japanese:上野戦争) was a battle of the Boshin War, which occurred on July 4, 1868 (May 15 by the lunar calendar), between the troops of the Shōgitai under Shibusawa Seiichirō and Amano Hachirō. Though the Shōgitai was mostly made up of former Tokugawa retainers and residents of the surrounding provinces, some domains supported the Shōgitai, such as Takada han (Echigo Province, 150,000 koku), Obama han (Wakasa Province, 103,000 koku), Takasaki han (Kōzuke Province, 52,000 koku), and Yūki han (Shimosa Province, 18,000 koku).[1] Facing them were the combined forces of the Chōshū, Omura, Sadowara, Hizen, Chikugo, Owari, Bizen, Tsu, Inaba, and Higo domains, under the general command of Chōshū's Omura Masujiro.[2] Shibusawa and Amano initially had the 2000-strong Shōgitai posted in Ueno to protect Tokugawa Yoshinobu, who was, at the time, in self-imposed confinement at Kan'eiji, as well as Prince Rinnōji no Miya Yoshihisa, who was the abbot of the temple.[3] When the battle began, Rinnōji no Miya escaped, reaching Enomoto Takeaki's warship Chogei-maru and being dropped off further north, on the Pacific coast.[4] The Shōgitai took up positions around Kan'eiji (寛永寺; an important Tokugawa family temple) and the nearby Nezu Shrine (根津神社).[5] While they put up stiff resistance, the Tosa troops used Armstrong cannons and Snyder guns to devastating effect, thus ending the last center of resistance in Edo.

Harada Sanosuke of the Shinsengumi is said to have joined the Shōgitai, and died soon after this battle.[6]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Mori Mayumi. Shōgitai Ibun. Tōkyō: Shinkōsha, 2004, p. 123.
  2. ^ Ibid, p. 170.
  3. ^ Gekidosuru Aizu Boshin Hen. Vol. 5 of Aizuwakamatsu Shi. Tōkyō: Kokushō-kankōkai, 1981, p. 138
  4. ^ Ibid.
  5. ^ Yamakawa Kenjirō. Aizu Boshin Senshi Tōkyō: Tōkyō Daigaku Shuppankai, 1931, p. 196.
  6. ^ Kikuchi Akira. Shinsengumi Hyakuichi no Nazo. Tokyo: Shin Jinbutsu Oraisha, 2000, p. 228-9.

[edit] Further reading

  • Kikuchi Akira. Shinsengumi Hyakuichi no Nazo. Tōkyō: Shin Jinbutsu Ōraisha, 2000.
  • Mori Mayumi. Shōgitai Ibun. Tōkyō: Shinkōsha, 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. Tōkyō: Nihon Hōsō Shuppan Kyōkai, 1997.
  • Yamakawa Kenjiro. Aizu Boshin Senshi. Tokyo: Tokyo Daigaku Shuppankai, 1931.
Devastation of Ueno after the battle. 1868 photograph.
Devastation of Ueno after the battle. 1868 photograph.
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