Battle of Kuisegawa
| Battle of Kuisegawa | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Sengoku period | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Forces loyal to Ishida Mitsunari | Forces loyal to Tokugawa Ieyasu | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Shima Sakon, Akashi Teruzumi | Honda Tadakatsu, Arima Toyouji, Nakamura Kazuhide, Noisshiki Sukeyoshi | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1300 | 50.000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None | Noisshiki Sukeyoshi, Nakamura Kazuhide (wounds), Arima Toyouji (wounds) 40.000 men | ||||||
Beginning
A few days before October 21, 1600, Ishida Mitsunari and his troops were stationed at Ogaki Castle. They were evaluating their situation when Tokugawa's army arrived two days later at Mino Akasaka, a few miles away from their location. Seeing the massive army before them, many of the Western army soldiers began to quiver with fear.
The Battle
One man who wasn't afraid was Shima Sakon. Wanting to restore the spirit of the men, he requested permission to lead a handful of men to test the enemy's skill. His request was wearily granted and he rode out with 500 men to the river dividing the two armies, Kuisegawa. Akashi Teruzumi, who had at least 800 men, supported him by waiting in ambush. Hiding his troops in the nearby thicket, Sakon attacked the nearest general, Nakamura Kazuhide. Lured by the offense, Kazuhide and his closest allies, Arima Toyouji and Noisshiki Sukeyoshi, followed the retreating Sakon. As they pursued him, they were ambushed and fought blindly in the forest until Sukeyoshi was killed by Sakon's troops. Honda Tadakatsu, who noticed the ruckus, immediately went there to order his comrades to retreat, when he arrived there, he ordered the wounded Toyouji and Kazuhide to retreat, and they obeyed. Sakon and Teruzumi triumphantly returned and their army's morale was restored, while Tadakatsu, Toyouji and Kazuhide returned from battle with significant losses. Based on his experience on the field, Sakon advised to move the battle to Sekigahara.
Aftermath
The Western Army was victorious in this battle, and thanks to it, their moralle was boosted and they hold advantage over the Eastern Army in the grater battle yet to come. Though there were losses on both sides, the Western Army's losses were minimal and the Eastern Army had one officer killed, troop and territory losses. The unit with the highest reported casualties was Sukeyoshi who lost 40 men in the assault and has been slain. Not wanting to lose the advantage, Mitsunari ordered his army to surround Ieyasu at Sekigahara where will occur the greatest battle in history of Japan.
Today, Ogaki Castle is a museum for Sekigahara and is considered a national treasure in Japan.