View source for Battle of Hakodate

*Japanese:箱館戦争(Hakodate Senso)
==Matsumae castle==
The former [[Bakufu]] retainers leaded by [[Enomoto Takeaki]] escaped from [[Edo]] in [[1868]]/4 and arrived at [[Ezo]] in 1868/10.
After they occupied [[Goryokaku|Goryôkaku]] fort, they headed to capture [[Matsumae castle]].
In 1868/11/5, the ground troops leaded by [[Hijikata Toshizo]] overthrew [[Matsumae han|Matsumae han's]] defence line at Oyobegawa river. They occupied the hill in front of Matsumae castle.
The castle had 7 batteries.
Everytime when Hijikata's soldiers came close to Karametemon gate, the Matsumae soldiers opened the gate to fire the cannon and closed quickly.
While they were taking the same tactic over and over again, Hijikata took small unit and entered the castle from behind.<ref>According to [[Shimada Kai|Shimada Kai's]] journal."総督陸軍隊守衛新選組ヲ率テ城裏ニ廻リ梯子ヲ以テ石檣ヲ登リ城中ニ潜ミ入"</ref>
Matsumae han surrendered in 1868/11/20. But the former Bakufu retainer troops lost their battleships ''[[Kaiyo maru]]'' and ''[[Shinsoku maru]]'' during the battle. 
In 1868/12/15,they declared the republic of Ezo and Enomoto was elected to be the president.

==Miyako bay==
Next they planned to seize the warship ''[[Kotetsu|Kôtetsu]]'' that was anchoring at Kuwagasaki harbor in Miyako bay.
''Kôtetsu'' was an ironship that Tokugawa Bakufu purchased from the U.S. but it was possession of the Imperial forces at the time.
[[1869]]/3/21, ''[[Kaiten maru]]'', ''[[Banryo maru]]'' and ''[[Takao maru]]'' left Hakodate, but only ''Kaiten maru'' was able to reach Miyako bay.
''Kaiten maru'' succeded to do surprise attack against  ''Kôtetsu'', but only 7 crews were able to jump on the deck of ''Kôtetsu'' and they were all shot.
Fortunately there were only supply ships near ''Kôtetsu''.
Once they realized the operation failed, they quickly left the bay.

==Hakodate==

==Notes==
<references/>

==References==
*''[[Bakumatsu Boshin Seinan Senso]]'' (幕末戊辰西南戦争), Gakken
*''[[Shinsengumi Nikki]]''
<center>
<table style=" margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 0.5em; width: 250px; border: #900000 solid 1px">
<tr><td>
{{Battles
|name=[[Boshin War]]
|battles=[[Battle of Toba-Fushimi|Toba-Fushimi]] -
[[Battle of Koshu-Katsunuma|Koshu-Katsunuma]] - 
[[Battle of Utsunomiya castle|Utsunomiya castle]] - 
[[Battle of Ueno|Ueno]] - 
[[Battle of Hokuetsu|Hokuetsu]] - 
[[Battle of Aizu|Aizu]] - 
[[Battle of Hakodate|Hakodate]]}}</td></tr></table>
</center>

[[Category:Battles]]
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Bakumatsu]]
[[Category:Meiji Period]]
{{draft}}