Takeda's Civil War
Excerpt from Fujiwara Hansu’s
The Dawn of the Rising Sun: Japan in the XIXth Century
The succession crisis tried the shogunate horribly. There was a point in early 1837 where, as the shogun’s advisor Kumaro Hideki writes, “the world seems to be ending, the peasants seem ready to sink Japan into the sea.” Though an over exaggeration, December 1836 through May 1837 were dark times for the shogunate.
Isoroku’s stand in Hakata was important. His sword fight, though interesting and noteworthy, was inconsequential. The letter to the mayor of Nagasaki, however was important. An excerpt is printed below:
“Honorable one, the rebels are coming your way. Though General Watanabe marches to your relief, the rebels will beat him by almost a month. I urge you, honorable on, to prepare for a siege. The rebels have an assortment of siege weaponry. I have seen these terrible weapons. Prepare, honorable one. Make your stand for the Emperor and His shogun. Watanabe is coming to your relief.
Your eternal servant,
Isoroku Samyuero
Chief of Hakata Prefecture”
This advanced warning was almost spoiled by the hesitancy of the mayor. Luckily for Japan, the mayor’s advisors prevailed. Nagasaki was almost ready for the siege, a militia formed, storehouses filled, and a rationing system in place. Even so, the walls were almost breached within a week.
The rebels, 9700 men strong, invested the city within hours after burning the outlying villages. The besiegers, realizing that the city had not been taken by surprise, quickly brought up the siege train.
The insurgents launched their first assault on the night of January 3, 1837. The assault was preceded by heavy bombardment of the walls by catapults and ballistae. The attackers attempted to both scale the walls and infiltrate through the breaches. It was the second group that would threaten the city.
Lieutenant Sakai was in charge of the northeast ramparts that night. “We had repulsed their [the rebels] eighth charge of the night. Cries of ‘treason’ and ‘they’re behind us’ rose among my men. I turned, just as a rebel brought his spear back to thrust. I dove sideways, losing my sword in the exertion. Grabbing my dagger, I backpedaled, the rebel following.
“Seeing the spear of a dead comrade on the ground, I grabbed it. The rebel closed as I reached for the spear, and stabbed at me. The spear clove through my armor right here [Sakai pointed at his chest, five centimeters below his throat]. Luckily, I was wearing my fianceé’s pendant that she gave me for remembrance. The spear broke the pendant, but only bruised my chest. I retaliated, sticking him through the belly. After what felt like days later, the dawn rose, and we beat the rebels back.”
With a strength born of desperation, the besieged held the city. Though the cost was horrendous, Nagasaki stood fast. On February 18, 1837, General Watanabe engaged the rebels outside Nagasaki, routing them. The pursuit to Hakata destroyed any chance the rebels had of standing against Watanabe. By February 25, 1837, the tide had begun to turn. Ieyoshi’s levies had completed training, and another 30,000 were training at Kyoto. The rebels, though not beaten, were contained. Takeda, who instigated the rebellions, was still at-large. The next threat to the shogunate would be at the hands of the daimyo.
Writer's note: I wanted to try to throw in 'history book' excerpts from time to time. Let me know if you think I should continue or not. As always, critique my work.
Rensslaer: I like the Dr. Herz history posts a lot, and they are the inspiration for Dr. Fujiwara's book