With the Battle of
Toba-Fushimi and the fall of Osaka, the Boshin War was on its climax. Explore
the following battles and events in this short but momentous segment in Japanese
modern history.
Yoshinobu’s Submission
In
Edo, Daimyos loyal to the main Tokugawa house and the former Shogun met in a
war council. Yoshinobu himself, however, lose his will to fight. Nevertheless,
many of his allies continued to struggle while some of his retainers decided to
sue for peace.
Yoshinobu
stayed in Edo while his advisers and allies discussed their next moves against
the Imperial Army closing in from the Tokaido and Koshu Roads. One of
Yoshinobu’s retainers suggested for him and the former Shogun to commit hara
kiri to preserve the honor of the Tokugawa house. Yoshinobu refused, believing
in his responsibility to all of those who were in Edo; and so, the retainer
went alone in his ritualistic suicide.
Meanwhile,
some Bakufu officials in other cities and provinces began to leave their
positions. Shogunate governors in Hyogo and Nagasaki left, leaving Imperial
supporters in power, sparing the cities from the ravage of war.
Many
Lords proposed to launch a counter attack against the Imperial Army either by
launching a naval attack on Osaka or a defense in the Hakone pass.
But Yoshinobu fell in anxiety and regret, as the Kinse Shiriaku described him
as “already repented of his late conduct, and animate by a spirit of respectful
obedience, refused to entertain their proposals.” Personal beliefs, respect to
the Emperor, and realization of sudden changes in his political situation
troubled his mind.
On
March 1868, he met with his trusted retainers Katsu Kaishu and Okubo Ichio. In
their conference, Yoshinobu finally decided to act in submission to the
Emperor’s will. He issued an order to all his loyal supporters and soldiers to surrender to the Imperial Army. He also submitted himself in retirement in the
Kuanyeiji in Uyeno to await the Emperor’s wishes on his own faith.
However,
many of his supporters refused to submit to the imperial will and continued to fight. On March 29, 1868, in the Koshu Road, near Katsunuma,
few miles north of Mt. Fuji, the Bakufu supporters fought in vain with
the advancing Imperial Army. While in the south, the Imperialist advance to
take over the Sunpu Castle with 2,000 to 7,000 men before advancing to the Hakone
Pass and into Odawara.
On
April 25, 1868 (according to the Kinse Shiriaku), Imperial envoys delivered an ultimatum to Edo Castle. The ultimatum demanded the surrender of the Edo Castle along
with all the weapons and ammunition they had. They promised clemency to
Yoshinobu and less severe punishment to his subordinates and supporters who
fought against the Imperial Army. They set May 3 as the deadline for the Shogun’s
answer.
Katsu
Kaishu counseled with Yoshinobu over their response. But beforehand, Yoshinobu
made up his mind to surrender to Emperor Mutsuhito. On May 2, Katsu
surrendered the Edo Castle. Yoshinobu resigned himself to the Emperor’s
punishment, which placed him retirement to his home domain of Mito and the
reduction of the Tokugawa lands to about 700,000 koku from more than 10 million
koku. All of this demand Yoshinobu accepted with resignation, and remained a
private citizen until his death on November 22, 1913, outliving Emperor Meiji
by about a year.
An
order for the surrender of weapons and disbandment of the Shogunal army was issued
to all, to which many disobeyed. Many ardent supporters of the Shogun, however,
refused to give up. Many continued to fight especially daimyos from the north,
which returned to their home Domain and formed what became known as the
Northern Alliance or the Hokubu Doumei,
with the Aizu Lord, Matsudaira Katamori, as the virtual leader. Over their
resistance to the Imperial forces, 3,000 perished and took over about a year to
end.
Continuing Resistance
In
May 1868, supporters of Yoshinobu continued to fight the Imperial Army. They
settled themselves in the Utsonomiya Castle, just northeast of Edo. The
Imperial Army attacked the castle, which fell after about a week of siege.
Within
the outskirts of Edo, resistance to the Imperial restoration remained. A group
of soldiers known as the Shogitai seized the Toeiza Kaneiji as their
headquarters. They attacked suspected Imperial soldiers in the streets of Edo
and acted rowdy that earned them notoriety. Imperial authorities decided to
suppress the Shogitai on July 4, 1868. The Battle of Uyeno resulted to the end
of the Shogitai at the cost of burning the temple’s main hall.
After
consolidating their control in Edo, the Imperial Army attacked the northern
Daimyos, who refused to submit to the Emperor and Yoshinobu’s order to
surrender. The massive campaign led to frantic battles in the domains of Echigo,
Sendai, Nambu, Yonezawa, and Shonai. However, they saw their campaign in these provinces fruitless with different resistances continuing to reappear. They then
decided to attack what they analyzed as the center of this resistance – Aizu
and its leader, Matsudaira Katamori – as Francis Adams pointed out, an attack
on the domain would “root out” the resistance and its branches (opposition in
other provinces and domains) would collapse.
Fighting in the Wakumatsu Castle |
The
defeat of Matsudaira led to the collapse of the resistance of other domains,
leaving one bastion of resistance remaining – the Republic of Ezo.
Ezo Republic
The
Ezo Republic was a renegade “democracy” centered in the island of Ezo (modern
day Hokkaido) that served as refuge for Shogunate supporters. They escaped from
the Imperial Forces and landed in Hakodate to establish their very own
government that remained loyal to the Shogunate and the Tokugawa clan. They
practiced democracy in some ways, making them the first republic in Japan.
However, the Imperial government refused to allow such rebellious entity in the
northern part of the country to exist and to jeopardize the Meiji Restoration.
Enomoto Takeaki |
Enomoto,
a Dutch educated mariner, decided to establish a democratic form of government
inspired by his studies in Europe as well as by their French colleagues. They performed
an election with a very narrow suffrage – only samurai or soldiers. In this
election, they elected Enomoto Takeaki as President and Matsudaira Taro as
Vice-President. While Arai Ikosuke served as Navy Minister and Otori Keisuke as
Army Minister.
The
days of the Republic, however, suffered terribly in the north. No foreign
government recognized their Republic due to the neutrality declared by the
ministers at the start of the war. In addition, they experienced shortages in
rice and hunger set in especially when harsh northern winter came. Soon, they faced military challenges when an Imperial
expedition set out to subdue them.
According
to the Kinse Shiriaki, on April 29, 1869, the Imperial Navy composed of 7
warships including a formidable ironclad Kotetsu. On May 6, the warships from
Ezo launched a preemptive attack on the Imperial Navy in Miyako Bay. But bold strike force suffered a defeat and they retreated back north. Imperialist troops then landed
near Hakodate. By May 22, two sides engaged near Matsumae where the Republican
army pushed the Imperialist back.
Few days later, on the 28th, the Imperialist Army launched another attack on Matsumae, this time successfully chasing out the rebels but at the cost of huge casualties. Ezo rebels retreated to Hakodate.
Few days later, on the 28th, the Imperialist Army launched another attack on Matsumae, this time successfully chasing out the rebels but at the cost of huge casualties. Ezo rebels retreated to Hakodate.
From
June 4 to 20, 1869, Imperialist forces furiously attacked Hakodate. Engagements
in both land and sea raged from day till night, mostly ending in stalemate. By
June 20, the Imperial Navy scored a victory at the bay, eliminating the naval
support for the rebels in the besieged port. The remnants of the republic fled
to Kameda.
The
Imperial army pursued the last bastion of the Ezo Republic where Enomoto
himself hid. However, facing shortages and military disadvantages, on June 26,
1869, the leaders of the Ezo Republic sued for peace. Enomoto himself wished to
commit hara kiri, but the Emperor stopped him, facing only imprisonment as punishment. Later on, Enomoto received an imperial pardon and elevated within the
new aristocracy of the Meiji Era.
The
surrender of Enomoto and the Ezo Republic marked the end of any massive
resistance by supporter of the Shogunate against the Meiji Restoration.
Explore also:
Bibliography:
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