• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Satsuma Rebellion of 1877 - Combat

Early in 1877 the rebellion broke out. Some excitement had been caused in Satsuma by the rumour of a plot to murder Saigo, and the Government thought it prudent to endeavour to remove a part at least of the stores in the Kagoshima arsenal. The execution of this plan was prevented by cadets of the " private school," and an officer sent from Tokio in the middle of January to arrange matters met with a hostile reception, and was obliged to return without landing. The dissatisfaction of the Saigo's "students" with the Imperial Government could by no means be controlled, and on January 30, 1877, they revolted against it.

Saigo took the field, and, marching north rapidly. On February 15, with a force numbering about 25,000, they crossed over the boundary of their clan and entered Kumamoto, where they were joined by a force of Kumamoto men under Kichijuro Ikebe. Together these two forces besieged the Castle of Kumamoto, the chief town of the province of Higo. This step is generally held to have been fatal to his success. His proper course, it is thought, would have been to have crossed over at once to the main island and move straight on Tokio, trusting to the magic of his name to secure fresh adherents on his way. The startling report to the above effect having reached the Imperial Court, the declaration of war was promulgated on February 19, and the Imperial Army marched on to Kyoto under the command of H.I.H. Prince Taruhito.

The rebels had some advantages on their side. Their preparations had been made; their leader was a popular hero; and the reputation of the clan for fighting qualities was unrivalled. So universal was the respect inspired by Satsuma swordsmen in those days that mothers in districts further north would quiet fractious infants by warnings of the coming of the dreaded Satsuma men, just as women in Europe in the last century made use, for the same purpose, of Bonaparte's name. It was doubtful, moreover, what reliance could be placed on the mixed force sent by the Government to encounter the rebels.

But in all other respects the Government was far better equipped for the struggle than its opponents. It had large military supplies, accumulated in anticipation of what was coming, besides money and credit. It had the exclusive use of railways and telegraphs, a small fleet, shipping facilities, and the command of the sea. The Crown, too, was on its side, an important point, as we have seen, in Japanese warfare; and it had the further and somewhat singular advantage of being assisted by the co-operation in army, navy, and civil administration of the picked men, intellectually speaking, of the rebel clan, who had thrown in their lot with the Government, and knew the Satsuma resources better, possibly, than the rebels themselves.

One other factor in the struggle remains to be noted — the numerous recruits who flocked to the Imperial standard from districts which had formerly supported the Tokugawa cause. Among these Aidzu clansmen were conspicuous. Filled with hatred of their late foes in the Civil War of 1868-9, and eager to take revenge for the disaster which had then overtaken them, they fought with a dogged courage and tenacity, and, as swordsmen, in the close hand-to-hand fighting which was a feature of the war, they more than held their own against their redoubtable antagonists.

By the fierce battle at Tawarazaka the siege of the Castle of Kumamoto was at last raised and the rebels were compelled to flee in the direction of Miyazaki and Oita, where another battle ensued. Here there were greater difficulties of transportation and provisionment, resulting in a further increase of expenditures.Just at that time difficulty was being encountered in circulating the bank notes, which were in the nature of inconvertible paper money. In December of the same year, therefore, the government was compelled to decide on another means of meeting the pressing need, that of issuing 27,000,000 yen of new paper notes out of the paper reserve kept for the replacement of worn-out paper money, giving notice that the new notes were to be gradually exchanged for coin during the next fifteen years.

Fortunately, however, in the month of August the Imperial Army was able to confine the rebels in Kagoshima, and on September 24 Takamori and his followers committed suicide and the rebels were all subdued. The war of the Satsuma Rebellion lasted eight months. The number of soldiers and civilians attached to the Imperial Army exceeded 52,200, of whom more than 6,200 were killed and more than 9,500 wounded. Of the navy, eleven warships (Adzuma, etc.) and three transports (Takao, etc.) took part in the action, while the sailors and civilians attached to the navy numbered about 2,280. Besides, some 600 men of the territorial army and some 11,000 members of the police force participated in the war. Thirty-eight steamships of the Mitsubishi Co. were employed in transporting the troops. The number of men who fought in the rebel army was about 40,000, of whom about 20,000 were killed.