HOSTILITIES BEGUN AT FUSHIMI
ON the evening of the 27th a great blaze was seen in the direction of
Kiôto. Endo said it was at Fushimi, three miles from the capital, and
that the ex-Tycoon's troops and those of Satsuma and his allies were
fighting there. The government ship "Kaiyô-maru" with others were
blockading Satsuma vessels at Hiôgo. On the preceding day a couple of
battalions had been seen parading for the march to Kiôto, and were
probably among the troops engaged at Fushimi. Report said that Keiki
himself would take the field in a few days. Willis' servant, the
faithful Sahei, who passed through Fushimi the same day, saw bodies of
Satsuma men waiting about in the streets and warming themselves at
fires, but he could not say for certain whether there were any other
imperialists with them. A little on the nearer side of Fushimi were the
_shinsen-gumi_, and behind them large bodies of infantry, all apparently
eager for the fray. During the succeeding night the Satsuma _yashiki_ on
the Tosa-bori canal, where we used to meet our friends, was burnt down.
Some accounts said it was set on fire by the occupants before they stole
away, others that the Tokugawa troops sent three or four shells into it
and so caused the blaze. At any rate the Satsuma people got into boats
and went down the river, pursued by the Tokugawa men, who fired at them
from the banks, and killed two of the fugitives. Sir Harry went to call
on Itakura, who told us that the town of Fushimi had been set on fire by
Satsuma troops, who were opposing the entry of the Uyésama's forces into
Kiôto. Fighting began at four o'clock, and the result was not yet known.
Another detachment marching up the Toba road, which follows the right
bank of the river, fell into an ambuscade and was forced to retire. He
could not tell us when the Uyésama would start. The troops that had been
opposed at Fushimi were his advanced guard, destined to occupy the
castle of Nijô in Kiôto, as he was returning there shortly, having been
invited to do so by Echizen and Owari. All the other _daimiôs_ were
tired of the arrogant conduct of Satsuma. Probably it was his troops
alone which had fought at Fushimi. Ishikawa gave me a copy of a letter
from the commandant at Fushimi, who writing to Tsukahara and Buzen no
Kami mentioned that guns had been lent for the destruction of the
Satsuma _yashiki_. It was reported that Tsukahara had disappeared, and
it was conjectured that he had been shot during the imperialist attack
on the official residence of the governor of Fushimi, but we could not
ascertain that he had been seen farther on than Yodo.
Next day the chief went to Itakura's house just inside the Tama-tsukuri
Gate near our legation, where he saw Nagai Gemba no Kami. Nagai told us
that up to last night the Tokugawa troops had been repulsed on both
points of their advance, and were going to try another road, the Takéda
kaidô, further to the west. To us it appeared that they ought to have
done better, as they were 10,000 to 6000. They reported the enemy force
to consist of Satsuma and Chôshiû men, assisted by _rônin_, which
probably meant the men of other clans, but the remaining _daimiôs_
appeared to be preserving a neutral attitude. The Uyésama's
commander-in-chief was Takenaga Tango no Kami. The denunciation of
Satsuma's crimes was carried by the advanced guard, whom Gemba no Kami
described as the Uyésama's "retinue." He still maintained that the
Uyésama had not wished to have recourse to arms, but was forced into it
against his will. Still Gemba no Kami could not give a satisfactory
explanation of the firing on the Satsuma steamer "Lotus" as early as the
evening of January 26. The same evening reports came in that the
Tokugawa troops had retired 7-1/2 miles from Fushimi, and had destroyed
the bridge over the Kidzu-kawa river below Yodo, to obstruct the further
advance of the Satsuma forces. Seven boat-loads of wounded had come down
the river.
From what we heard on the morning of the 30th, it appeared that the
prospects of the Tokugawa party were not very encouraging. In the
afternoon great fires were distinctly visible from the hill by the
castle, in the direction of Hirakata and Nashimoto, about half-way
between Ozaka and Fushimi, which showed that the battle was approaching
nearer. A consultation was held by the chief with the Legation staff,
the result of which was that we were to hire as many boats as possible
to convey the archives to the British squadron, and when they were
placed in safety we should be able to await the development of events
with calmness. After dinner Sir Harry went to see the French Minister,
and returned about half-past nine with information that a circular was
to be addressed to the foreign ministers announcing that the Uyésama
could no longer defend them, and they must take their own measures for
the protection of their flags. At eleven came an official messenger with
the circular, who promised to get us as many boats as possible on the
following morning to move our baggage; and after packing up the archives
we went to bed. At four o'clock in the morning, Locock woke me with the
news that a note had come from the French Minister to say that the enemy
would enter the city early in the day, and that we must run off at
daylight with what we could carry. So we all got up, frightfully cold
though it was, and packed up our belongings. No boats had arrived. At
daylight my Japanese escort came to say that with the greatest
difficulty they had managed to procure one large boat; on this the
archives were placed, and started off about nine. Then came Ishikawa,
who said he was powerless to help us. The imperialists had not yet
appeared, but he considered it advisable for us to get off at once. So
Sir Harry and I went off with him to look for the porters, whom we met
outside the great gate of the castle. Just at that moment we saw a
curious procession going in. It consisted of a palanquin like a
_mikoshi_, one of those gods' litters carried in religious pageants, a
large umbrella held over it and two men with lanterns on long poles in
front. Ishikawa let out that he thought it was conveying a messenger
from the Mikado. He and I came back with the porters, and brought the
greater part of the baggage down to the bank of the stream behind the
legation, but still there were no boats. So we went off to the
governor's residence and tried to interest the officials on our behalf.
They appeared to be in a state of extreme perturbation, and declared
that it was impossible to procure any boats. Ishikawa almost shed tears,
and vowed that he would never again try to get boats and porters for the
legation; it was none of his business. We agreed therefore to deposit
the greater part of the baggage inside the castle. Luckily however this
proved unnecessary, for when I returned to our quarters I found the
chief radiant with joy, five boats having arrived in the interval. About
ten o'clock therefore we were able to make a start for the foreign
settlement, but I stayed behind with the six men of my Japanese escort,
capital fellows who had stuck to me ever since we made the journey
overland from Ozaka to Yedo in 1867. I had to procure boats for my own
baggage, which by an oversight had been left behind, and to get the
stores removed to the castle. However, more boats arrived than had been
expected, so I put all the baggage on board, including even a huge pot
of mince-meat. Unluckily, a fine gold lacquer cabinet of Mitford's, for
which he had recently paid 800 _ichibus_, was overlooked. About noon I
started for the foreign settlement in great triumph. There was even a
house-boat (_yakata-buné_). I asked a man whom I had never seen before
for whom this was intended, and was greatly flattered when he replied
innocently that it was for Satow sama. This enabled me to go down
comfortably instead of walking the whole distance. On the way we all
nodded and dozed, for we had had no proper night's rest. From time to
time we were challenged by the posts on the banks, but no attempt was
made to stop us. On arriving at the settlement I found the wind was
blowing too strongly from the west to allow of our passing the bar at
the mouth of the river. The chief, Locock, Willis and Wilkinson were all
fast asleep. Captain Bruce, commandant of the infantry guard, and the
constable had gone off again to the Legation to endeavour to recover the
remainder of our property that had been left behind, and I got
Lieutenant Bradshaw a boat with the same object. Towards evening they
returned. A steam launch from the squadron was lying off the settlement,
and the Legation was located at the vice-consulate there. It was
bitterly cold, and we were glad to get to bed, after what was a very
good dinner considering the circumstances. The other foreign
representatives were at Tempôzan, at the mouth of the river, in
miserable huts, and with very little to eat. We felt pity for them,
mingled with pride, when we compared our situation with theirs. Rumours
were flying about among the townspeople that Keiki had been declared a
rebel (_chô-téki_).
About nine o'clock on the following morning (February 1), Locock and I
took an escort from the 2/ix detachment and went off to the castle to
see what was the state of things there. In front of it there was a great
crowd, and all the gates seemed deserted. We knocked at the governor's
door, but got no answer, a clear sign that he and his people had taken
to flight. The crowd laughed. We sent in to the castle by one of my
Japanese escort to inquire who was there, and were told in reply that
Keiki had departed, leaving it empty. We went on to the Legation, where
we found everything just as we had left it. We got back by noon, and as
we were at lunch there came in a detachment of thirteen Frenchmen, who
in return for being stoned by the crowd had fired and killed some eight
or nine people. This was looked upon as a wholesome lesson to the rabble
not to cry out abuse of foreigners, but nevertheless was much to be
regretted, as it would tend to make the foreign colleagues believe Ozaka
unsafe for themselves. During our walk to the castle and back we had
observed no signs of hostility, a fact which seemed to show that the
population were able to distinguish between nationalities. The French
Legation had been pillaged and the furniture smashed.
After lunch, Sir Harry, Willis and I went down to Tempôzan, the chief to
call on his colleagues, Willis to attend to the wounds of some Aidzu men
who had been brought down from Kiôto, where they had fought against the
imperialists. The colleagues were furious with Sir Harry for having been
so fortunate as to save all his baggage and archives, and for having had
the pluck to remain four miles nearer the supposed danger than they had.
A rather angry discussion ensued. Sir Harry declared that he would not
leave Ozaka unless he was able to carry off every atom of Legation
property, and he did not know when that might be possible. They, on the
contrary, said that having struck their flags, it was their intention to
move across to Kôbé (Hiôgo), and await the course of events. I went to
make friends with some of the Aidzu wounded, who were waiting for boats
to put them on board of Tokugawa ships. They asserted that they would
have beaten the enemy if they had been properly supported, but Tôdô had
turned traitor at Yamazaki (on the right bank of the river, nearly
opposite Yodo), which was the most important point of the defence, and
Keiki's general Takénaga had gone over to the enemy at Yodo itself.
Moreover, the drilled infantry were useless; if one man ran the rest
followed like a flock of sheep (as we should say). They estimated the
Satsuma force at the low figure of 1000, but said the skirmishing of the
enemy was very good, and they were armed with breech-loaders. Keiki had
run away, they knew not whither, but probably to Yedo. We found that the
fort at Tempôzan, and one a little further up the river, which had
hitherto been under the charge of Kôriyama (a Kiûshiû _daimiô_) had been
dismantled, the guns in the former being spiked, and the ammunition
embarked in the Tokugawa warship "Kaiyô-maru," which left at noon. Keiki
was believed to be on board of her. Old Hirayama was in the fort at
Tempôzan, but studiously concealed himself. Chanoine (many years
afterwards for a brief period French Minister of War) and another
officer of the French military mission had arrived the previous night
from Yedo, but had had to leave again, greatly disappointed that they
had come too late for the fair. Obviously it had been intended that they
should act as advisers to Keiki's commander-in-chief. The town of Sakai
was reported to have been burnt, and also the houses round the
Namba-bashi bridge over the Yamato-gawa, but it was not known whether by
accident or intentionally. No Satsuma men had yet entered Ozaka. The
French Minister was our authority for a story that Keiki, on finding
that the majority of the _daimiôs_ were arrayed against him, had
surrendered the castle and city of Ozaka to Echizen and Owari, because
they had been kind and polite to him when they came on their mission
from the court! The Aidzu men were very grateful to Willis for the
assistance he gave in attending their wounded, and apparently regarded
the English as the best and kindest people in the world. It was resolved
by Sir Harry that he should go to Hiôgo in order to avoid a quarrel with
his colleagues, and I volunteered to remain at Ozaka with Russell
Robertson as acting vice-consul, and half the guard from the 2/ix under
the command of Bruce, so that the honour of the flag might be
maintained. It was certain that Noguchi and my Japanese escort would
stand by me, and we were determined to fight to the last if we should be
attacked, but that I did not anticipate. I despatched the Chôshiû
student Endo Kiôto-wards to urge that the _daimiôs_ should forthwith
make their declaration of policy to the foreign representatives, as
Mitford and I had given the draft of a notification to our Satsuma
friends, and there was also my private understanding with Tosa on that
subject. The Aidzu soldiers at the fort said that Satsuma men had been
found in the castle in disguise, and that there even were some amongst
Keiki's drilled troops; cunning devils they must have been if all we
heard was true.
Accordingly on February 2, the chief went away to Hiôgo to arrange for
H.M.S. "Rattler" to convey Locock to Yokohama, where he was to be in the
charge of the Legation, and also for his own temporary withdrawal to
Kôbé. About half-past eight in the morning we saw from the
vice-consulate a puff of white smoke ascend in the direction of the
castle, followed by dense clouds of black smoke. The report soon spread
that the castle was on fire, and so it was in fact. After breakfast
Locock and I took forty of the 2/ix guard, with Bruce and Bradshaw, and
went off to see the fire and find out whether our Legation had been
burnt. We marched along the bank of the river to the Kiôbashi gate of
the castle, and turning in there, found that the granaries and the
_hommaru_ (inner circle) had been set on fire, but no one could tell us
by whom this had been done. The wind was blowing from the north, and
sparks had spread the conflagration to some of the huts previously
occupied by the drilled troops on the south side. We walked round to
Tama-tsukuri, where we found that the Legation buildings were being
plundered by people of the lowest class. We pursued some of them, but
were not in time to put an end to the devastation. All the furniture had
been destroyed, and the godown sacked. Unfortunately this contained
Mitford's beautiful _étagère_, which had no doubt been carried off.
There was an immense crowd in front of the castle, and men were pouring
in and out of the gates, but they offered no opposition to us, and did
not stone us as we might have expected them to do. The mob had, of
course, destroyed the official residence of the governors as far as was
possible.
We got back to the vice-consulate about mid-day, and found there Endo,
who had already returned from his mission. He said that two or three
hundred of the Chôshiû folk were already in the castle, and that an
official had been left behind to hand the place over to Owari, but the
flames broke out before the ceremony could be completed. Whether the
fire was started by the rabble or by Keiki's followers he did not know.
The only imperialists who had yet arrived were Chôshiû men.
About two o'clock we left the foreign settlement in a lifeboat with
Locock and Wilkinson, who were to be embarked on board H.M.S. "Rattler"
and proceed to Yedo. Halfway down the river we met the steam-launch,
with two other large boats, bringing the chief and Captain Stanhope of
H.M.S. "Ocean," who, seeing what they took to be a general conflagration
of all Ozaka, had come to take us away and haul down the flag. How angry
I was! We were not in the slightest danger, either of being attacked by
the victors or from the burning of the castle, and I would have answered
with my life for the safety of every person left with me. Had I not
received repeated assurances from Satsuma, Tosa and Chôshiû that our
Legation would be respected. However, there was no help for it; orders
had to be obeyed. We found great difficulty in procuring barges, and had
to send the steam-launch out to seize as many as we wanted. We secured
three, into which we packed everything, including the vice-consul's
furniture; the archives and the baggage of the 2/ix having been already
started off. Everything was got away by half-past six, and we eventually
crossed the bar in safety. The steam-launch, in which I was, grounded
three times, and finally stuck fast, but Captain Bullock of H.M.S.
"Serpent" fetched me off in his gig. Willis, who, with the safe
containing the Legation funds, was in a boat towed by the "Serpent's"
pinnace, did not get on board till midnight. Then she took all the
barges in tow, and steamed over to Hiôgo.
Next morning we landed there, and got the baggage on shore. Most of the
party found accommodation at the consulate. I took possession of the
district administrator's house, which had been occupied by some
custom-house officers. The caretaker objected. I insisted however that
as we had been turned out of Ozaka by the _Baku-fu_, we had the best
right in the world to the abandoned accommodation of the _Baku-fu's_
officials. So I had my baggage carried in and set up house there. Our
chief had quartered himself at the consulate, and the other five foreign
representatives, French, Dutch, American, North-German and Italian,
occupied the custom-house, a large two-storeyed building in foreign
style, which the officials would otherwise have set on fire to prevent
it falling into the hands of the victors. The governor, an old
acquaintance of ours named Shibata, had chartered the steamer "Osaka" at
$500 a day (say £100) to convey himself and his staff back to Yedo,
whither he started the same afternoon.
Satsuma's man Godai, I learnt, had gone to Ozaka the previous night, or
early that morning, in order to assure the chief that he might safely
remain there, but of course he came too late. The next thing one heard
was that it had been intended to declare Keiki a rebel if he did not
withdraw his troops from Ozaka, Kiôto and other points between the two
cities, and that Satsuma, Geishiû, Chôshiû and Tosa were charged with
the duty of using force to compel obedience if he refused to listen to
the advice offered to him by Echizen and Owari in the first place. This
seemed to explain his hasty flight, but from any point of view, European
as well as Japanese, it was disgraceful. After informing the diplomatic
representatives that he regarded himself as charged with the direction
of foreign affairs, the only further intimation they received from his
officials was that he could no longer protect the Legations, but he
never so much as hinted that he was about to abscond. I was also
informed that it was intended to invite the ministers to Kiôto, and
Keiki had been ordered to transmit the invitation to them, which of
course he omitted to do. In fact the policy of the Tokugawa government
from the very beginning of their relations with the outer world of
Europe had been to keep foreigners from coming in contact with the Kiôto
party; and in this they were heartily assisted by Roches, the French
Minister. I well recollect how, when we went to the castle to see Keiki
after his retirement from Kiôto, some of the commissioners for foreign
affairs jeered at me, saying, "Of course you now expect to get to Kiôto,
but don't be too sure," or words to that effect.
A report having been circulated that somebody, either Satsuma or
Tokugawa people, were going to blow up the martello tower which stood at
the end of the dry river bed between Hiôgo and Kôbé, boats were sent
from H.M.S. "Ocean," the French flagship "Laplace" and the "Oneida"; the
door was locked and the key taken away.