Hakodate War (1/2)The last battle of the Boshin War, Hijikata Toshizo dies

After the end of the Edo shogunate, which lasted for about 260 years, the new government army and the old shogunate army fought against each other from 1868 to 1869, called the Boshin. It's war. The final battle was the Hakodate War, which took place in Hakodate, Ezochi (present-day Hakodate City, Hokkaido). In the battle, also known as the Battle of Goryokaku, the former shogunate army led by Takeaki Enomoto engaged in a fierce battle with the new government army. It was in this battle that Toshizo Hijikata, the vice-commander of the Shinsengumi, was killed. This time, I will explain the Hakodate War in detail.

The Tokugawa shogunate comes to an end with the grand edict of the return of imperial rule and the restoration of the monarchy.

In 1853, at the end of the Edo period, Perry arrived on a black ship and demanded the opening of the country. The Emperor refused to open the country, but the Edo shogunate eventually opened the country the following year, signing the Treaty of Peace and Amity between Japan and the United States, and went on to conclude commercial treaties with Britain, France, and other countries. As a result of these moves by the shogunate, various factions arose within the country, including those who opened the country, those who isolated the country, those who respected the emperor (respected the emperor), those who expelled foreigners (those who expelled foreigners), and those who opposed the shogunate, and at times, conflicts occurred through the use of force. became. The weakened Shogunate was unable to suppress these movements, and the country entered a period of turmoil.

As the sonno-joi and overthrowing movements gradually gained momentum, the Satsuma and Choshu clans, who had lost in wars with foreign countries and learned of their strength, collaborated to overthrow the shogunate and open the country. By joining forces in the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance, the trend toward overthrowing the Shogunate accelerated. The shogun at the time, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, sensed this and on October 14, 1867, at Nijo Castle in Kyoto, declared the restoration of imperial rule to the various domains. Power was returned to the Emperor.

It is said that the Tokugawa family thought that even if they returned power to the Imperial Court, they would be able to continue holding real political power because the Imperial Court, which lacked the ability to manage the government, would rely on the Tokugawa family. In fact, even after the restoration of imperial rule, the Imperial Court asked the Shogunate to continue to be in charge of politics for the time being and to consult on a new government.

The Satsuma and Choshu clans opposed this, and together with Tomomi Iwakura, they lobbied the Imperial Court to remove the Tokugawa family from the government. Then, on December 9, a coup d'état occurred at the Imperial Palace by court nobles and feudal retainers who supported the abolition of the shogunate. On the same day, the ``Great Decree for the Restoration of the Monarchy'' was issued in the name of Emperor Meiji, and it was decided to abolish the shogunate and establish a new government. The new government was headed by the Emperor, and three people, the President, the Councilors, and the Councilors, were responsible for managing the government. At the Kogosho meeting held that night, it was also decided that the Tokugawa family be asked to ``jikan nochi,'' that is, to return Yoshinobu Tokugawa's position as Minister of the Interior, and to return all territory to the Imperial Court. .

Naturally, the former shogunate vassals, mainly the Tokugawa family, rejected this. As the conflict between the old shogunate and the new government deepened, Tokugawa Yoshinobu decided to raise an army against the Satsuma domain. He left Osaka Castle with 15,000 soldiers and headed for Kyoto. On the other hand, the new government army also held a meeting and received an imperial edict from the Imperial Court to attack Osaka Castle and the name ``Government Army'' in order to subjugate the former Shogunate.

Thus, on January 3, 1868, the ``Battle of Toba-Fushimi'' occurred in Toba-Fushimi (Minami-ku, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto City), Yamashiro Province. This was the beginning of the Boshin War, which lasted for about two years.

The former Shogunate army was defeated one after another in the Boshin War.

The Battle of Toba-Fushimi was a conflict between 15,000 former shogunate troops and about 5,000 new government troops. The former shogunate army may seem to have an overwhelming advantage, but the new government army had state-of-the-art weapons imported from Britain and other countries, and had the approval of the imperial court. The morale of the former shogunate army, which realized that it was a rebel army, decreased as the new government army asserted its legitimacy by raising the ``Nishiki no Goban.'' Morale further deteriorated when the commander-in-chief, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, escaped from Osaka Castle and returned to Edo by boat. In this way, the new government forces were victorious in both Toba and Fushimi, and the former shogunate forces withdrew.

Afterwards, Yoshinobu humbles himself at Kan'eiji Temple in Edo and shows his obedience to the new government army, but the new government army prepares to attack Edo. There was a chance that Edo would fall into the flames of war, but Kaishu Katsu and Takamori Saigo of the former shogunate held a meeting and agreed on the condition that they would not launch a full-scale attack if Edo Castle was surrendered. As a result, Edo Castle was surrendered bloodlessly on April 11, 1868. After that, Yoshinobu departed for Mito and took a break. After that, he moved to the Sunpu domain (Shizuoka).

Takeaki Enomoto heads north with the shogunate fleet.

One person who was dissatisfied with the treatment of the Tokugawa family by the new government forces was Takeaki Enomoto, who was the vice president of the Navy at the time. Takeaki was born as the son of a retainer of the shogunate, and entered Shohei-zaka Academy at the age of 11. I studied English at John Manjiro's private school. Later, at the age of 19, he visited Hakodate as a servant of the Hakodate magistrate and participated in the Sakhalin expedition, and then studied navigation and Dutch studies under Kaishu Katsu at the Nagasaki Naval Training School. He studied abroad in the Netherlands in 1862 (Bunkyu 2nd year) and returned to Japan in March 1867 (Keio 3rd year) with the Kaiyo Maru, which was built in the Netherlands. After being appointed captain of the Kaiyomaru by the Shogunate, he rose steadily through the ranks. He was appointed vice president of the navy after the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, and advocated a complete resistance to the new government forces.

During the bloodless surrender of Edo, one of the conditions was the surrender of the former shogunate fleet. In response, Takeyo refused to hand over the warships to the new government forces. On April 11th, he set sail from the coast of Shinagawa with his former shogunate vassals who were anti-war, leading a fleet of eight ships. Once persuaded by Kaishu Katsu, he returned to Shinagawa and handed over four of the eight ships to the new government army, but in the end, on August 19th, he set sail with eight ships including Kaiyo Maru, and the new government army and the former shogunate The army headed towards the northeast, where the battle was taking place.

The Tohoku War breaks out centering around Aizu.

After April, the location of the Boshin War was moved to the Tohoku region, including the ``Ueno War,'' which pitted the Shogitai against the Shogi corps, which had barricaded themselves in the mountains of Ueno. The next place the new government forces set their sights was on Aizu. Katamori Matsudaira, the lord of the Aizu domain, served as the guardian of Kyoto at the end of the Edo period, and was the person who used force to suppress the Sonno-joi faction through the Shinsengumi and other groups. In addition, the Aizu clan was the main force in the battles of Toba and Fushimi. As a result, the Aizu domain became a target for subjugation by the new government.

On the other hand, the surrounding Tohoku clans were sympathetic to Aizu and united by forming the Ouuetsu Domain Alliance and appealed to the new government to pardon the Aizu clan, but this was not granted. In this way, the Tohoku War, a battle between the former shogunate army (Aizu/Ouuetsu feudal alliance) and the new government army (centered on the Satsuma/Tosa domain) occurred in the Tohoku region. Battles took place across Tohoku, but the most famous one was the Aizu War, which was featured in the taiga drama Yae no Sakura. The deaths and suicides of young soldiers in battle are known as tragedies. The Shinsengumi led by Toshizo Hijikata is also active here. The former shogunate army was defeated in this battle, and the allied domains surrendered one after another.

Just when you think this is the end of the war, the remaining forces of the former Shogunate army, including the Shinsengumi, escape from Aizu and head north. Then, on August 26, they met up with the fleet led by Takeaki Enomoto, which was anchored at a port within the Sendai domain. A total of about 2,000 people fled to Ezochi (Hokkaido).

Hakodate War ① The former shogunate army conquers Hakodate and the Hakodate government is established.

At that time, the new government established Hakodate Prefecture in Ezochi, which ruled over almost the entire area except for the Matsumae clan's territories such as Esashi. The former shogunate army landed at Washinoki, north of Hakodate (Washinoki-cho, Morimachi, Kayabe-gun, Hokkaido) on October 20, and split into two groups and headed south toward Goryokaku, where Hakodate Prefecture was located. They defeated the remaining new government forces, captured Goryokaku, and occupied Hakodate. Afterwards, they fought against the Matsumae clan, which was on the side of the new government army, and captured Matsumae Castle. The Ezo area was pacified.