− | The British frigate [[''HMS'' Phaeton]] disguised itself as a Dutch vessel and entered [[Nagasaki]] harbor late in the eighth month, [[1808]], in an effort to plunder Dutch vessels located there. The effort was ultimately unsuccessful, but represented a dramatic failure on the part of the shogunate, and of the domains of [[Saga han]] and [[Fukuoka han]], to effectively defend Nagasaki (and by extension, Japan's harbors, and Japan as a whole). The harbor defenses, consisting primarily of cannon roughly a century old and limited in number (the battery closest to the ''Phaeton'' held only seven cannon), were not only technologically & numerically inferior to the task, but were sorely inadequately manned as well. Where roughly a few hundred men might have been necessary to effectively man the batteries that existed, only 50-60 men from Saga were in fact present. | + | The British frigate [[HMS Phaeton|''HMS'' Phaeton]] disguised itself as a Dutch vessel and entered [[Nagasaki]] harbor late in the eighth month, [[1808]], in an effort to plunder Dutch vessels located there. The effort was ultimately unsuccessful, but represented a dramatic failure on the part of the shogunate, and of the domains of [[Saga han]] and [[Fukuoka han]], to effectively defend Nagasaki (and by extension, Japan's harbors, and Japan as a whole). The harbor defenses, consisting primarily of cannon roughly a century old and limited in number (the battery closest to the ''Phaeton'' held only seven cannon), were not only technologically & numerically inferior to the task, but were sorely inadequately manned as well. Where roughly a few hundred men might have been necessary to effectively man the batteries that existed, only 50-60 men from Saga were in fact present. |
| [[Nagasaki bugyo|Nagasaki ''bugyô'']] [[Matsudaira Yasuhira]] committed suicide in the aftermath of the event, the only example in the entirety of the [[Edo period]] of a Nagasaki ''bugyô'' having to kill himself for defense-related reasons. | | [[Nagasaki bugyo|Nagasaki ''bugyô'']] [[Matsudaira Yasuhira]] committed suicide in the aftermath of the event, the only example in the entirety of the [[Edo period]] of a Nagasaki ''bugyô'' having to kill himself for defense-related reasons. |