Battle of Nagaragawa

For the 12th century battle on the same river, see Battle of Sunomatagawa.
Battle of Nagara River
Part of the Muromachi period
Date April 1556
Location Nagara River, Mino Province, Japan
Result Saitō Yoshitatsu victory
Belligerents
forces of Saitō Yoshitatsu forces of Saitō Dōsan, forces of Oda Nobunaga
Commanders and leaders
Saitō Yoshitatsu Saitō Dōsan
Strength
17,500 2,700
Casualties and losses
Saitō Dōsan

The Battle of Nagaragawa (長良川の戦い Nagaragawa no tatakai?) was a battle that took place along the banks of the Nagara River in Mino Province in April 1556. (The site of the battle is in present-day Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan.) It was a battle between Saitō Dōsan and his son, Saitō Yoshitatsu.[1]

Contents

Background

In 1542, Dōsan became the representative of the Toki clan and ruled over Mino Province as such. He had originally planned on passing his power onto Yoshitatsu, but in 1555, he started thinking of passing it on to one of his other sons, Kiheiji (喜平次).

Battle

Yoshitatsu, who was living in Sagiyama Castle at the time, heard of his father's plans and, in 1556, killed his two brothers in the family residence on Mount Inaba, starting the intrafamily skirmish. Yoshitatsu was able to gain the support of a large portion of the family's soldiers, gathering approximately 17,500 men. Dōsan, on the other hand, was only able to amass around 2,700 soldiers.

Yoshitatsu handily won the battle, which ended in Dōsan's death.[1] Oda Nobunaga had sent in troops to support Dōsan, but they did not reach the battle in time to offer any help.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b History of the City. (Japanese) Gifu City Hall. Accessed May 26, 2008.