The Battle of Toba-Fushimi was the first major battle of the Boshin War, fought from 27 to 31 January 1868 as the forces of the Tokugawa Shogunate attempted to break through the pro-Imperial army and reach Emperor Meiji in Kyoto, whom they hoped to warn against the intrigues of the Satsuma Domain. The Imperial forces defeated the Shogunate forces in a four-day battle, causing many of Japan's neutral daimyos to declare in favor of the Emperor and offer military support to prove their new loyalties.
History[]
In 1866, the pro-Imperial Choshu Domain of Chugoku formed an alliance with the Satsuma Domain of Kyushu - the "Satcho Alliance" - to prevent the Tokugawa shoguns from punishing dissent among its daimyo. The Satcho forces defeated the Second Choshu expedition, and, on 9 November 1867, the Satsuma and Choshu created a secret order in the name of the new Emperor Meiji commanding the slaughtering of the "traitorous subject" Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the Shogun. Yoshinobu resigned followed a proposal from the daimyo of the Tosa Domain, ending the Tokugawa Shogunate. However, the shogunate government continued to exist, while still dominated by the Tokugawa clan. Yoshinobu soon agreed to an assembly of daimyos, hoping that such a body would restore him, leading to Satsuma and Choshu hardliners seizing the imperial palace in Kyoto on 3 January 1868 and declaring the restoration of the Emperor to direct rule. While Yoshinobu initially agreed to the abolition of the title shogun and the confiscation of his lands, on 17 January 1868, he called for the repeal of the restoration. On 24 January, he decided to prepare an attack on Satsuma and Choshu-occupied Kyoto after blaming the burning of the outer works of Edo Castle on Satsuma ronin.
Yoshinobu, from his base at Osaka Castle, assembled a 15,000-strong shogunal army, outnumbering the Satcho army by 3 to 1. His force, consisting mostly of men from the Kuwana and Aizu Domains and reinforced by Shinsengumi irregulars and French-trained Denshutai, moved out on 27 January 1868. The Choshu and Satsuma armies were fully modernized with Armstrong howitzers, Minie rifles, and one Gatling gun, while the Royal Navy threatened Osaka harbor and forced the Shogunate to maintain a significant part of their army in reserve to guard the castle.
The two armies first met at Toba at 5 PM on 27 January 1868. The Satsuma soldiers fired the first shots of the war, with an exploding shell causing shogunal general Takigawa Tomotaka's horse to run wild and throw his column into disarray. The Satsuma proceeded to counterattack, sending the shogunate troops in disarray and retreat. Sasaki Tadasaburo then ordered his vanguard of 400 Mimawarigumi to charge the Satsuma gunners, but his sword and spear-wielding men were killed en masse by rifle-wielding Satsuma troops. Further south, Satsuma-Choshu forces inconclusively engaged shogunal forces. The next day, Emperor Meiji proclaimed Yoshinobu and his followers to be enemy of the court, authorizing their suppression by force. Prince Ninnaji, who had previously lived as a Buddhist monk, was named commander-in-chief of the Imperial army. On 29 January, the Shogunal forces which had regrouped at Tominomori were attacked by the Satsuma forces and were forced to retreat after a failed counterattack. The Yodo Domain defected in the middle of the battle and refused the Shogunal forces admission to Yodo Castle, forcing them to flee as far as Osaka castle. On 30 January, Yoshinobu gathered his advisors at Osaka Castle, only to flee to Edo on an American warship rather than take command of his army.
The Battle of Toba-Fushimi, while small-scale, seriously weakened the prestige and morale of the Tokugawa bakufu, while most daimyos who had remained neutral offered support to the Imperial cause. In addition, Yoshinobu's failed attempt to regain control silenced elements within the new Imperial government who favored a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
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