Changes

*''Japanese'': 生麦事件 ''(Namamugi jiken)''

*''Japanese'': 生麦事件 ''(Namamugi jiken)''

The Namamugi Incident, also known as the Richardson Affair, refers to the death of a British man, Charles Lennox Richardson, and the severe injury of several of his companions, at the hands of samurai from [[Satsuma han]], in the eighth month of [[1862]]. The Satsuma castle town of [[Kagoshima]] was [[Bombardment of Kagoshima|bombarded]] by ships of the British Royal Navy the following year, in response, emphasizing the weakness of the [[Tokugawa shogunate|shogunate]] to protect Japan from foreign threats. As this is often cited among the chinks in the shogunate's armor which led to its fall, the Namamugi Incident itself has come to be counted among the major events of the [[Bakumatsu period]].

The Namamugi Incident, also known as the Richardson Affair, refers to the death of a British man, [[Charles Richardson|Charles Lennox Richardson]], and the severe injury of several of his companions, at the hands of samurai from [[Satsuma han]], in the eighth month of [[1862]]. The Satsuma castle town of [[Kagoshima]] was [[Bombardment of Kagoshima|bombarded]] by ships of the British Royal Navy the following year, in response, emphasizing the weakness of the [[Tokugawa shogunate|shogunate]] to protect Japan from foreign threats. As this is often cited among the chinks in the shogunate's armor which led to its fall, the Namamugi Incident itself has come to be counted among the major events of the [[Bakumatsu period]].

==The Incident==

==The Incident==

Richardson was killed, Clarke badly wounded, Marshall a little less so; only Mrs. Borrodaile escaped relatively unharmed. Richardson is said to have managed to ride away a short distance before falling from his horse and being set upon by a number of samurai.<ref name=Vaporis/> What may have been seen by the samurai as a relatively honorable act of mercy, killing Richardson once he was already on the ground, to spare him further suffering, was represented in British sources of the time as excessively cruel, barbaric, and dishonorable.<ref name=daniels1467/>

Richardson was killed, Clarke badly wounded, Marshall a little less so; only Mrs. Borrodaile escaped relatively unharmed. Richardson is said to have managed to ride away a short distance before falling from his horse and being set upon by a number of samurai.<ref name=Vaporis/> What may have been seen by the samurai as a relatively honorable act of mercy, killing Richardson once he was already on the ground, to spare him further suffering, was represented in British sources of the time as excessively cruel, barbaric, and dishonorable.<ref name=daniels1467/>

While the other three escaped, the samurai wrapped Richardson's body in a straw mat and deposited it next to a pine tree on the roadside.<ref name=Vaporis/>

While the other three escaped, the two men to the American Legation,<ref>''Honjin ni tomatta daimyo tachi'', Futagawa juku honjin shiryokan (1996), 81.</ref> the samurai wrapped Richardson's body in a straw mat and deposited it next to a pine tree on the roadside.<ref name=Vaporis/>

==Aftermath==

==Aftermath==