Siege of Osaka
|
Inscription on bell at Hokoji in Kyoto |
The
Siege of Osaka (大坂の役
Osaka no Eki) were series of battle by
Tokugawa shogunate that serves the destruction of
Toyotomi clan. It was divided into two stages (Winter Campaign and Summer Campaign), lasted from
1614 to
1615.
When
Toyotomi Hideyoshi died in
1598, his clan were administered by the
Council of five agents, and
Tokugawa Ieyasu possessed the most authority among them. After defeating
Ishida Mitsunari in
Battle of Sekigahara,
Ieyasu was essensially in control of Japan. In
1603, Ieyasu openned up the
Tokugawa shogunate in
Edo. Ieyasu's political objective is to set up an permanent and stable regime and the fact that the
Toyotomi clan were nominally superior became a problem.
In
1614,
Toyotomi clan rebuilt the
Osaka Castle, and a nearby shrine. The renovations included a bell, with an inscription that read
"May the state be peaceful and prosperous; In the East it greets the pale moon, and in the West bids farewell to the setting sun.".
Tokugawa, whose power base was in the eastern provinces, interpreted this as an insult, and tensions began to grow between his newly established
shogunate and the Toyotomi clan. The tension was only increased when
Toyotomi Hideyori began to gather a force of
ronin and enemies of
Tokugawa's in
Osaka. By November of
1614,
Tokugawa decided not to let this force grow any larger, and led 194,000 men to
Osaka.
The siege was begun on
November 19, when
Tokugawa led three thousand men across the
Kizu River, destroying the fort there. A week later,
Tokugawa attacked the village of
Imafuku with 1,500 men, against a defending force of 600. With the aid of a squad wielding
arquebuses,
Tokugawa claimed another victory. Several more small forts and villages were attacked before the siege on
Osaka Castle itself began on
December 4.
Sanada-maru (or Sanada Ravelin) was an earthwork barbican defended by
Sanada Yukimura and 7,000 men. The
Shogun's armies were repelled, time and again.
Sanada and his men launched a number of attacks against the siege lines, and broke through three times.
Tokugawa then resorted to artillery, bringing in 300 cannon, as well as men to dig under the walls. On
January 22, the Winter Siege was ended, with
Toyotomi Hideyori pledging to not rise in rebellion, and allowing the moat of Osaka castle to be filled in.
In April, the
Shogun got word that
Toyotomi was gathering even more troops than in the previous November, and that he was trying to stop the filling of the moat.
Toyotomi's forces (the Western Army) began to attack contingents of the
Shogun's Eastern Army near
Osaka. On
April 29, they raided
Wakayama Castle, a coastal fortress belonging to
Asano Nagaakira, an ally of
the Shogun.
Asano's men left the castle, attacking the invaders, and driving them off. By early June, the
Shogun's army had arrived, before
Toyotomi managed to secure any land to use against them. At Domyoji, on
June 6, 2,600 of his men ran into 23,000 of the Eastern Army.
Hideyori's commander at the battle,
Goto Mototsugu, attempted to retreat into the fog, but the battle was lost and he was killed.
After another series of battles, and
Shogunate victories, on the outskirts of
Osaka, the Summer Campaign came to a head at the Battle of Tennoji.
Hideyori planned a hammer-and-anvil operation, in which 55,000 men would attack the center of the Eastern Army, while a second force, of 16,500 men would flank them from the rear. Another contingent waited in reserve.
Tokugawa's army was led by his son
Tokugawa Hidetada, and numbered around 155,000. They moved in four parallel lines, prepared to make flanking maneuvers of their own. Mistakes on both sides nearly ruined the battle, as
Hideyori's ronin split off from the main group, and
Tokugawa's reserve force moved up without orders from the main force. In the end, however,
Hideyori's commander,
Sanada Yukimura was killed, destroying the morale of the Western Army. The smaller force led directly by
Hideyori sallied forth from
Osaka Castle too late, and was chased right back into the castle by the advancing enemies; there was no time to set up a proper defense of the castle, and it was soon ablaze, and being pummeled by artillery fire.
Hideyori committed
seppuku, and the final major uprising against
Tokugawa rule for another 250 or so years was repressed.
*Davis, Paul K. (2001). "Besieged: 100 Great Sieges from Jericho to Sarajevo." Oxford: Oxford University Press.
*Winter Campaign (大坂冬の陣
Osaka Fuyu no Jin)
**
Battle of Imafuku**
Battle of Shigeno**
Battle of Kizugawa**
Battle of Toda-Fukushima**
Siege of Sanada-maru*Summer Campaign (大坂夏の陣
Osaka Natsu no Jin)
**
Battle of Kashii**
Battle of Domyoji**
Battle of Yao**
Battle of Wakae**
Battle of Tennoji
