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.