Battle of Ishibashiyama
| date | September 14, 1180 |
|---|---|
| place | Ishibashiyama, in the Hakone Mountains, near Mount Fuji in what is now Odawara , Kanagawa Prefecture |
| Casus Belli | Minamoto Yoritomo faces the Taira in response to the siege of Nara (1180) |
| output | Victory of the Taira |
| consequences | Underestimation of the opponents by the Taira, escape of the Minamoto |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
Minamoto Clan (Yoritomo's Life Guard) |
Taira clan (local police force) |
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 300 men | 3000 men |
| losses | |
|
unknown |
unknown |
The Battle of Ishibashiyama ( Japanese 石橋 山 の 戦 い , Ishibashiyama no tatakai ) was one of the first battles of the Gempei War and the first battle in which Minamoto Yoritomo , who was to become the first Shogun less than ten years later , was the leader of the Minamoto Forces was.
background
In his childhood, Yoritomo was spared the Heiji Rebellion (1160) after an argument between Taira and Minamoto . Both houses were up-and-coming Bushi houses (warrior class), who had taken over police powers and local administration on behalf of the Kuge , and finally gained more and more direct decision-making power, as agricultural progress, similar to Europe, distributed power to the local administrators, who in turn arbitrarily appointed police troops and vassals. Taira no Kiyomori had spared young Yoritomo because he saw no threat in him, and had given him hostage in the care of a vassal. Shortly after Yoritomos came of age, however, he broke out and was even supported by this vassal.
In the meantime, the Taira had already cleared most of the rivals of the Minamoto out of the way, so that they now proceeded against the ruling Kuge and the Tennō . They forced the Takakura -Tennō to resign in favor of a Taira as his successor. This was Taira no Kiyomori's grandson, the later Tennō and still underage Antoku (his mother was Kiyomori's daughter). The young prince of the ruling Kuge (court nobility), Prince Mochihito, was of the opinion that the throne belonged to him, and then distributed a letter in August 1180 demanding the support of the remaining Minamoto and others against the supremacy of the Taira. He authorized him to lead the clans of the Kanto level . That was the reason Yoritomos spontaneously stood up against the local military administrator of the Taira with only a small force of men. When Kiyomori heard that Yoritomo had left Izu Province for the Hakone mountain pass, he sent Ōba Kagechika to stop him. Although Yoritomo's call to arms was met with much sympathy, the surrounding clans were reluctant to openly join Yoritomo. In Ishibashiyama, where he set up his standard, he was only able to gather 300 men. A force of the Miura clan was deterred from unifying by a flooding river, the Sakawa River .
The battle
The battle took place on September 14, 1180 in the southwest of today's Odawara , Kanagawa Prefecture near Yoritomo's fortress at Kamakura .
Kiyomori ordered a night attack on the Minamoto camp with 3,000 men. Another force with 300 men under Itō Sukechika bypassed the camp and handle from the rear. However, the defenders were assisted by units of the Taira forces, who secretly stood loyal to the Minamoto and were able to interrupt the battlefield in the dark, unnoticed by darkness and stormy weather. However, it was clear after a short time that the Minamoto had to withdraw due to the sheer majority. It culminated in the fact that the last position was said to have been a hollow tree, of which it is said that Yoritomo and only one henchman were hiding in it. One of his secret allies is said to have found him there and smuggled him off the battlefield. Yoritomo fled on September 28, 1180 by ship from Capa Manazuru to Awa Province in what is now the southwestern prefecture of Chiba .
Individual evidence
- ↑ James S. De Benneville: Saitō Musashi-bō Benkei: Tales of the Wars of the Gempei, being the story of the lives and adventures of Iyo-no-Kami Minamoto Kurō Yoshitsune and Saitō Musashi-bō Benkei the warrior monk , edited by the author, Yokohama, 1910 (pp. 28-29).
- ↑ a b Nihon Daihyakka Zensho (Nipponika): Shibayama-machi. (No longer available online.) Shogakukan, 2012, archived from the original on August 25, 2007 ; Retrieved May 9, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Dijitaru daijisen: Ishibashiyama. (No longer available online.) Shogakukan, 2012, archived from the original on August 25, 2007 ; Retrieved May 9, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ De Benneville, (pp. 29-30)
literature
- Stephen Turnbull (1998): The Samurai Sourcebook . London: Cassell & Co. ISBN 978-1854095237