The Battle of Sekigahara
Lords of the Western Army
As the man who had led the storming of Osaka Castle, Ishida Mitsunari felt he was well-positioned to lead the Toyotomi loyalists against Hidetada; he was wrong. Osaka aside, Mitsunari was still the bureaucrat who owed his position more for his skills at the tea ceremony than for his skills as a general, and the other lords saw him as such.
Mitsunari needed legitimacy, and this he found in his young master Hideyori. As the young lord's "guardian" he could naturally count on Uesugi Kagekatsu (who had been a most vocal critic of Ieyasu after he put Hideyori under house arrest) and Ukita Hideie (who would support Hideyori until death) both men with much more military experience than Mitsunari. Kagekatsu was a Toyotomi island in a sea of Tokugawa, in no geographical position to lend support to Mitsunari in a decisive battle. Mitsunari needed the support of Mouri Terumoto.
Mitsunari's agent in the Mouri camp would be Ankokuji Ekei, a man whom he knew well in his position as abbot of the Tofuku-ji temple in Kyoto. Ekei was a man for all seasons, a Buddhist monk by first profession, he had served with distinction on the battlefields of Korea as a warrior, and had been made lord of Iyo (in southern Shikoku) as a reward by Hideyoshi himself. He had served as a diplomat for the Mouri clan to the Toyotomi and the central Japanese clans and was well-respected amongst the Mouri hierarchy.
An artists impression of what Ankokuji Ekei may have looked like. A man of many talents, Ekei was known for his skills at debate and diplomacy as well as spearmanship. His faith and steadfast loyalty, first to Hideyoshi and then to Mitsunari, would make him a prominent figure in the years to come.
Not all Mouri retainers though allying with Mitsunari was a good idea, Kikkawa Hiroie for one. Hiroie was something of a rising star of in the Mouri clan, his main claim to fame having defeated a much larger Ming-Korean coalition during the Battle of Ulsan Castle. His father Motoharu had been one of Motonari's finest retainers, and he was seen as a most worthy successor; a rare thing in Sengoku times. (just look at Hidetada)
Hiroie was also a consummate politician with a good grasp of the contemporary domestic situation. He calculated that if the Mouri sided with the Tokugawa or remained neutral, Hidetada would most likely win. If the Mouri sided with the Toyotomi however, the two sides would be evenly matched; a risky outcome.
Statue of Kikkawa Hiroie. A clever man too clever for his own good, he was undone by his own plotting and scheming.
Hiroie gained the support of Mouri Hidemoto, his lord's cousin, and petitioned Terumoto to side with Hidetada while many others in the Mouri clan favoured siding with Ishida, for Ekei and Hideyoshi's sake. Terumoto being the indecisive man he was was swayed successfully by both camps and couldn't quite make up his mind, his gut instincts favouring neutrality. A Mouri retainer suggested a debate between Ekei and Hiroie to settle the matter, an incident which would become legendary in Japan.
According to the official history of the Mouri clan, Hiroie started by arguing for the Tokugawa while Ekei for the Toyotomi. Hiroie knew his master well, and sensing what Terumoto wanted to hear, changed tact and argued in favour of neutrality. Ekei seized his chance and bellowed loudly at his opponent for suggesting such a cowardly and dishonourable course of action, yelling out some rather sexually explicit and insulting expletives in the process. Ekei then turned his ire to Terumoto himself and prostrated himself in front of a portrait of Mouri Motonari. Ekei wept loudly, lamenting the state of the Mouri clan in which such dishonourable ideas could find favour and, promising to clear the Mouri name “so that he could face Motonari and Hideyoshi in the hereafter” brandished his wakizashi, held it at his chest and proceeded to commit seppuku.
The reaction from those present was overwhelming, as retainers rushed to stop Ekei from ending his life. Some were overcome with emotion, even Terumoto was on his feet, tears in his eyes. At that moment Hiroie sunk to the floor; he had lost.
Mitsunari now had all of the surviving regents on his side, plus the Sanada and his friends Otani Yoshitsugu and Konishi Yukinaga. He now turned once more to his allies list of contacts, first and foremost among them being Konishi Yukinaga's good friend, Otomo Yoshinobu, lord of much of Northern Kyushu and Japan's most prominent Catholic.
Yoshinobu's grandfather Otomo Sorin had been one of Japan's first – and certainly most enthusiastic – convert to Christianity, and throughout his life he gathered a large number of Portuguese and Japanese contacts, which his grandson inherited. Unlike Mitsunari, Yoshinobu was on great terms with Kuroda Kanbei, who like Konishi Yukinaga he considered something of a mentor, and his son Nagamasa. The Kuroda were still loyal to the Toyotomi but Kanbei had not forgiven Mitsunari for that slight against him all those years ago and refused to join Mitsunari. Yoshinobu's influence among his friends was strong however, and for his sake Kanbei and Nagamasa refused to join the Tokugawa also, opting instead to remain neutral.
Statue of St. Otomo Yoshinobu (who looked an awful lot like his grandfather) in Nagasaki. Yoshinobu's greatest service to the Toyotomi cause was keeping the Kuroda clan neutral, although he did succeed in bringing several daimyo into the Western army's fold: including fellow Christian Akashi Terazumi, Chosokabe Morichika, lord of southern Shikoku and most surprisingly, his family's arch rivals the Shimazu clan. His loyalty, contacts and skills at organisation were a vital asset to Mitsunari and would help make him a catalyst of his time
Mitsunari now had the allegiance of almost all the major lords in Western Japan save one, and he was none other than the young Kobayakawa Hideaki, with whom Mitsunari had history. Hideaki was fickle and indecisive, and something of an admirer of the later Tokugawa Ieyasu, but he was also Hideyoshi's nephew and loyal to his young cousin Hideyori. As much as the thought must have repulsed him, Mitsunari did not need 20'000 hostile troops in his backyard, and so in order to win Hideaki's loyalty, he swallowed his pride and offered him the position of Kampaku until his cousin came of age. Hideaki wasn't too fond of Mitsunari either, yet he accepted, at least at first. He had secretly pledged to side with Hidetada as well, and was plagued with indecision, an ailment that was to infect him for the rest of his life.
Ishida Mitsunari now had all the legitimacy he needed. All the regents backed him and with young Hideyori's blessing, he was appointed Grand Commander of the Toyotomi forces much to Hiroie and Hideaki's chagrin. Mitsunari appointed Otani Yoshitsugu, Konishi Yukinaga, Ukita Hideie and Mouri Hidemoto (acting general of the Mouri forces on behalf of his cousin Terumoto) as his four lieutenants with his own retainer Shima Sakon serving as grand strategist. Mitsunari's army was made up primarily of daimyo from Western or West-central Japan and was henceforth known as the Western Army. It is by this name that it is known as primarily in histories written outside Japan.
Portrait of Ishida Mitsunari. Mitsunari must have known that the upcoming conflict would change Japan forever, though it was unlikely he knew by how much.
Lords of the Eastern Army
Hidetada had one big advantage over Mitsunari, he had inherited a powerful clan with all the manpower, money and talented retainers that come with it. Some of his retainers, such as Honda Tadakatsu and Li Naomasa had served the Tokugawa for almost forty years. Hidetada's army would be made up primarily of lords who were loyal only to himself and his family, rather than to an abstract idea or cause like Mitsunari's was.
Hidetada still needed more than just his own retainers to beat Mitsunari. A natural ally was his father's old friend Date Masamune, a rebellious lord with fascination for all things Western; as a consequence his army was the most modern in all of Japan at that time. Masamune's geographical position in Northern Honshu meant that he would not likely be able to help Hidetada in a decisive battle. Instead he was ordered to attack Mitsunari's ally, Uesugi Kagekatsu.
A Date Masamune print, dating from the mid-to-late Osaka Period. Masamune's distinctive eye-patch, crescent-moon helmet and his rebellious nature would make him a folk hero in Japan; the Japanese fascination with him persists to this very day.
As mentioned earlier, Mitsunari was something of a double-edged sword; so were his allies. Kato Kiyomasa was one of Hideyoshi's best generals, but he was burning with hatred for his Korean Campaign rival, Konishi Yukinaga (not to mention for Yoshinobu and Christians in general). Having heard that he would be siding with Mitsunari, Kiyomasa jumped at the chance to side with the Tokugawa, bringing his good friend Fukushima Masanori along with him. Masanori was another Toyotomi stalwart, but he disliked Mitsunari, whom he saw as a meddling bureaucrat interfering in military affairs. Masanori was valiant and brave, but also headstrong and glory-hungry, the kind of man who acted first without thinking; he and Hidetada got on famously.
Kiyomasa and Masanori both took an aggressive stance towards recruiting other old Toyotomi loyalists, taking their families hostage and holding them to ransom. This won them no friends and galvanised support among those who had already sided with Mitsunari, but others like Kanachika Nagamori, Todo Takatora and Ikono Kazumasa were press-ganged into the Tokugawa army out of fear for their families.
Hosokawa Tadaoki was a very different man compared to his contemporaries. Head of one of Japan's most prestigious clans, (the Sengoku period itself opened with a conflict between them and the Yamana clan) he had been an ally of the traitorous Akechi Mitsuhide, even going so far as to marry his daughter. Tadaoki thus had no love for the late Taiko and seemed like a natural recruit to the Tokugawa fold.
Hidetada did not rely on just his own retainers and allies alone to defeat Mitsunari. There were a few fractures within the Western army, and Hidetada hope to exploit them. First and foremost were the Mouri, whom Hidetada calculated would make up around a quarter of Mitsunari's total force. Mouri Hidemoto and Kikkawa Hiroie were both Hidetada loyalists and while they refused to defect outright for the sake of Ankokuji Ekei, they could be persuaded to hold their position indefinitely and “wait out” a decisive battle; better than nothing Hidetada must have thought. Kobayakawa Hideaki offered a better prospect as he could be convinced to defect outright, but he was as indecisive as ever, It would be impossible to discern whom he would side with until he attacked the other side, yet Hidetada was confident that his plots would succeed, after all they were
his plots.
The majority of the pro-Tokugawa forces came from Eastern or East-Central Japan, and henceforth were known as the Eastern Army, especially in histories written outside of Japan.
Hidetada was a young man keen to step out of his father's long shadow. He was rash and overconfident in the lead up to Sekigahara, and bit off more than he could chew, which ultimately led to his downfall.
Opening Moves
Following the assassination of his lord Tokugawa Ieyasu at Ueda castle, Honda Tadakatsu fled to Hidetada's base in Edo and wasted no time in having his lord's son crowned as head of the Tokugawa clan. Like a serpent with two heads, the Tokugawa were in two minds as to the what best cause of action to take against Mitsunari was: Tadakatsu favoured concentrating all the Tokugawa's forces on Osaka, with the intention of luring Mitsunari into a pitched battle whereas Hidetada preferred to take revenge for Ieyasu and besiege Ueda Castle before dealing with Mitsunari. Hidetada was adamant that he be the one to take Masayuki's head and so a compromise was struck, whereby Hidetada would lead 38'000 men to besiege Ueda while the rest of the Tokugawa's combined force (some 80'000 men) would march under the temporary joint command of Hidetada's brother Tadayoshi[1] and Tokugawa generals Honda Tadakatsu and Li Naomasa on to Osaka. Hidetada planned on joining up with that force once the Sanada had been subjugated, thus claiming glory for avenging his father and for defeating Mitsunari. As Masayuki was thought to possess only 5'000 troops (only half that, as it turned out) Hidetada was confident in a speedy victory.
Hidetada was easy for Mitsunari to predict and he too hoped for a pitched battle, gathering the bulk of his forces at Osaka. Masayuki and Yukimura were charged with the defence of Ueda Castle, and given orders to delay any invading force for as long as possible. while Uesugi Kagekatsu would stay in his home of Echigo in anticipation of an attack from Date Masamune. Mitsunari ordered shinobi to be stationed in Nobunaga's old base at Gifu Castle in neighbouring Mino province to give early word of a marching army while Mitsunari's allies from far-flung Shikoku and Kyushu arrived.
On the 5th of January, Hidetada made the opening gambit, ordering his ally Date Masamune to besiege the Uesugi stronghold of Kasugayama Castle. Three days later, Tadayoshi marched with the bulk of the Tokugawa army towards Osaka. Upon hearing of advanced word of Tadayoshi's movements, Ishida Mitsunari marched his forces towards the rural town of Sekigahara, a key point on the Nakasendo[2] and lie in wait for the Tokugawa army. on the 15th of January 1600[3], the Eastern and Western armies would clash at the battle of Sekigahara, with Tokugawa Hidetada nowhere to be found.
The Battle of Sekigahara
The night before the battle had been a particularly wet and stormy one, so the terrain of the battlefield was particularly muddy. The following morning a thick, heavy fog descended across Sekigahara and would engulf much of the battlefield until the late morning. The Western Army had marched through the night in order to gain the high ground, an advantage that would prove decisive.
The battlefield of Sekigahara was mostly hilly grassland, and was surrounded by five mountain peaks: In the northwest lie Mount Sasao, it had a prime vantage point of the battlefield and was where Mitsunari and Sakon set up camp with Yoshinobu and the Shimazu. To the far west lie Mount Tengu where Otani Yoshitsugu put up his camp, spreading the bulk of his forces down the mountainside below. Konishi Yukinaga and Ukita Hideie positioned their forces to the north of Mount Tengu. To the south lie the highest peak, Mount Matsuo, where Kobayakawa Hideaki set up camp and finally to the far east lay the twin peaks of Mount Momokubari and Mount Nangu: the latter where Mouri Hidemoto based himself and his forces, with Morichika to the south-east of the Mouri.. Hidemoto's position away from the bulk of the Ishida forces was a prime location to either defect or sit out the battle, though this did not occur to Mitsunari at the time.
Mitsunari's plan was simple, the bulk of his forces would engage the bulk of Hidetada's while Hideaki, Motochika and the Mouri would pincer the Tokugawa from the sides and from behind. The Eastern Army generals must have known that they would be walking into a trap but hoped that through sheer muscle and a little help from their lord's strategies they would come through victorious.
Troop positions for both sides, Toyotomi in Red, Tokugawa in Blue. Notice the absence of Hidetada, who was still stuck at Ueda.
The Eastern Army was a little worried by Hidetada's absence, but naturally assumed that he was just running a little late. The Tokugawa forces proceeded with plan B, namely give command to Tadayoshi, Tadakatsu and Naomasa until Hidetada arrived. This disjointed command structure naturally would cause problems. first among those was whom would lead the first charge. Being the impatient, glory-hungry man that he was, Masanori insisted on making the first charge. Naomasa objected, stating that a(n ex -) Toyotomi retainer shouldn't be given such an honour, and insisted on leading the charge himself (a good, Tokugawa retainer). Naomasa was meant to be Tadayoshi's escort for this battle, and it would not be wise to have him participate in the first charge, thought Tadakatsu, who ruled in favour of Masanori. This one incident caused a good deal of friction between the three men, with disastrous consequences a few hours into the future.
A more worrying concern was that the Tokugawa generals, most of whom had been used to Ieyasu pulling the strings from the rear; commanded from the front. Without Ieyasu or Hidetada to command from a safe distance, the Eastern Army could only see what was directly in front of them; they had no intelligence about the battlefield as a whole and thus could not react quickly to changing developments as they occurred, because they had no way of seeing them occur in the first place.
The battle began at around 8:00 in the morning with Li Naomasa making the first move, charging Ukita Hideie's position. Masanori was furious, and immediately charged at Hideie, tiring his men out for the sake of his own glory. All Hideie's dug-in, predominately spear-armed troops had to do was sit and wait for the enemy cavalry to come to them.
Not wanting to be outdone, Kato Kiyomasa[4] charged forward too, spotting an old rival in the Toyotomi ranks, Konishi Yukinaga. Yukinaga responded in kind, while Hosokawa Tadaoki engaged nearby Gamo Satoie; Mitsunari and the Shimazu held their position for now. Otani Yoshitsugu ordered Shigemasa to engage Fukushima to stop Ukita from fighting on two fronts. Sadatsugu encroached on Konishi's position, so Mitsunari ordered the Shimazu to charge to his aid. Initially refusing to do so, Mitsunari and Yoshinobu threatened to fire on them if they refused, an order that would have offended a much lesser man. Yoshihiro however was not such a man and impressed by Mitsunari's bravado, complied. Mitsunari did not know it yet, but his little gesture had won him an ally for life; such was the psychology of the samurai.
Things were going well for Mitsunari it seemed, but it wasn't all loss for the Tokugawa. Natsuka Masaie had marched a little too far forward, in a vain attempt to bring the nearby Mouri into battle; Asano sliced through his forces like butter. The Tokugawa forces were now beginning to fall into position and swarm over the Western Army front line. It was now that Mitsunari played his trump card, and ordered Hideaki to charge; Hideaki did no such thing. Mitsunari tried to signal Hideaki again and again, but it was to no avail. Seeing that Hideaki wasn't moving, Tadakatsu moved his and his satellites troops forward, hoping to engage those of Otani Yoshitsugu. Otani knew that it was do or die and had his attendant light a signal fire of his own, what followed would be one of the most gutsiest and bizarre military moves in all history.
Now Yoshitsugu was anything but a fool, and he certainly had his suspicions about Hideaki; in fairness anyone who had known the young man for a period exceeding 15 seconds would too. So he arranged a contingency plan lest Hideaki decided to do something idiotic as he was so prone do do on such occasions; a small do-or-die squadron of arquebusiers under Yoshitsugu's orders were deployed behind Hideaki's steed. In the event of his defection or inaction, or from a signal from Yoshitsugu, the arquebusiers were ordered to assassinate Hideaki. Hideaki had mounted his steed; that time was now.
What happened next must have been one of the most oddest moments in military history, one of the bullets hit Hideaki in the back of the neck, killing him instantly. His steed however was so frightened by the noise that it began charging at full gallop in the opposite direction from the sound of gunfire, Honda Tadakatsu, and with the late Hideaki's legs firmly fastened to the stirrup. Hideaki's troops were said to be momentarily stunned, until one of the more enterprising assassins yelled out "Lord Kobayakawa is charging! Death to Hidetada, Long Live Hideyori!" or something to that effect. It did the trick and Hideaki's forces charged the Honda lines; what Tadakatsu's men thought upon seeing a corpse riding a horse with it's head on it's rear end is unfortunately not recorded in the official history of the battle.
A portrait of Otani Yoshitsugu in his younger days before his leprosy was in it's severe stages. Although it is impossible to discern whether Hideaki would have defected to the East or not, his decision to assassinate Hideaki may have well won Mitsunari the battle, and eventually the country.
Hideaki's "charge" left had sealed the victory for Mitsunari. Upon hearing word of it, he ordered one final push, with the Mouri to charge through Asano's ranks and circle around to the Eastern Army's rear, the anvil to Mitsunari's hammer. The victor of the battle was now in no doubt, and Hiroie and Hidemoto had no choice to comply lest they be executed for treason after the battle. By this time the Eastern army front line began to crumble, Naomasa's legendary "red devils" had fled like cowards, though Naomasa himself died fighting, an honourable death worthy of such a man. Masanori's army too routed, but this time the leader fled with the men; he was captured in hiding a few hours later (what became of him shall be told later). Hosokawa Tadaoki had been wounded in battle by Shima Sakon and captured; he was too valuable to be killed yet, and Tsutsui and Tanaka had died worthy deaths, leaving Kiyomasa. If Kiyomasa was to die on the battlefield, he was going to ensure that he would either take his hated rival with him, or die by his sword.
Duels were very common in Japanese battles before the Mongol invasion, in fact more often than not they
were battles; armies preferring to settle conflicts through duels as opposed to pitched battles in order to keep casualties to a minimum. By the sengoku period battlefield duels between commanders had fallen out of favour and were rare. It was fitting that what was in many respects the last great samurai battle should feature a duel between two great generals: Konishi Yukinaga and Kato Kiyomasa. The account of the duel is what was documented in the Ishida family's official history:
"Kato drew his katana and charged at Konishi, who turned his steed round and charged Kato, katana already drawn. Kato raised his katana above his head while Konishi held it sideways to his left, the tip facing slightly towards the ground. Kato slashed his katana downwards with all his force while Konishi, with an almighty yell, slashed diagonally upwards, parrying Kato's blow, and then slashing downwards, with Kato's jugular open to attack. The force of Konishi's blow caused Kato to scream in pain, before collapsing from his steed. Konishi reared his steed around, dismounted and decapitated Kato."
With the battle going poorly for the Eastern army, those generals who were press-ganged into joining the Eastern Army: Todo Takatora, Ikoma Kazumasa and Kanachika Nagamori. defected to the Western army. Honda Tadakatsu, seeing the battle was lost and with seemingly no hope of Hidetada arriving on time, fled into a forest with a retainer and committed seppuku, ordering the retainer to take his head and hide it so Mitsunari would be unable to claim it as a prize before killing himself. Tadayoshi was captured alive by the defector Todo Takatora and whatever was left of the eastern Army began to retreat. Mitsunari had won.
Sekigahara: The Aftermath
Immediately following the battle a great feast was held on the battlefield for the victorious Western Army, with Konishi Yukinaga being the guest of honour. Then proceeded the customary "viewing of the heads" ceremony[5] and finally, justice would be dealt to the captured prisoners. First up was Fukushima Masanori, who surely knew what his fate would be, execution in the manner most befitting a traitor; slowly and painfully. Tadayoshi was to be executed, but was offered an honourable alternative, to commit seppuku instead (which he took). The last of the notable prisoners was Hosokawa Tadaoki, who was originally sentenced to death. Mitsunari decided to pardon him though, and even offered to let him retain his fiefs, provided he swear fealty to the Toyotomi. Hosokawa accepted with alacrity.
It took about a day for word of Mitsunari's victory to reach the rest of Japan. Upon hearing the news, Date Masamune (ever the pragmatist) defected to the Western army and along with Uesugi Kagekatsu immediately set off for Hidetada's base in Edo. Hidetada was devastated upon hearing the news at Ueda and lamented loudly at his brother's death. "Tadayoshi! if only I had been there!" he yelled, to which a brave retainer replied "No, if only
Ieyasu had been there". This insult was too much for Hidetada to bear and he killed the dissenting retainer instantly. Now it was his other retainers who had had enough of Hidetada, they turned on him and offered his head to Masayuki. The Siege of Ueda was over.
Of the Tokugawa generals who survived Sekigahara and escaped, most either committed seppuku or were captured and executed. Asano Yukinaga was an exception; after three months on the run Mitsunari himself offered a pardon to his fellow countryman[6] to serve under him as a personal retainer. It was a risky move for Mitsunari to make and even riskier for Asano to accept (this could easily have been a ploy to capture him) but fortunately for both men each proved as good as his word. The three defectors (Todo Takatora, Kanamori Nagachika and Ikona Kazumasa) were pardoned for siding with Hidetada and retained their fiefs, while the Kuroda clan were spared punishment and retained their influence despite staying neutral, largely due to the intervention of Otomo Yoshinobu.[7] Mouri Hidemoto's participation had exonerated him somewhat but Kikkawa Hiroie was never forgiven for his previous pro-Tokugawa stance and found himself increasingly isolated after the battle. He was stripped of his fiefs and three years later, committed suicide.
As for the fate of Ishida Mitsunari, Toyotomi Hideyori and indeed of Japan itself, that will be covered in the next chapter.
Notes:
[1] Matsudaira Tadayoshi, fourth son of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Matsudaira was Ieyasu's surname before he changed it from Matsudaira Motoyasu to Tokugawa Ieyasu.
[2] The main road leading from the Tokugawa provinces to Osaka. It runs right through Omi province, Mitsunari's stronghold.
[3] The actual date of the battle was the 21st of October (which for some reason the old Japanese calendar translates to September 15th) but I have moved the date ten months earlier for plot reasons.
[4] In real life, Kato Kiyomasa was not present at Sekigahara.
[5] Whereby the heads of deceased enemy samurai would be viewed. Heads of enemies were prized in battle, this is also why Konishi Yukinaga decapitated Kato Kiyomasa during the duel even though Kiyomasa was already dead.
[6] Both Ishida and Asano were born in Omi province.
[7] In real life it was Kuroda Kanbei who helped Yoshinobu retain influence (and for that matter, his head) after siding with Ishida Mitsunari.