Nagashino 1575 - Battle Overview

In the summer of 1575, Takeda Katsuyori led his army into the Tokugawa domain and besieged Nagashino Castle. Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu led a combined army to relieve the siege. They established their position on the plain of Shitirabara. …

1575-06-28

28

In the summer of 1575, Takeda Katsuyori led his army into the Tokugawa domain and besieged Nagashino Castle. Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu led a combined army to relieve the siege. They established their position on the plain of Shitirabara. Their army contained 3,000 Teppo with European arquebuses purchased from Portuguese traders. Even though Takeda Katsuyori was faced with a numerically superior enemy force, Katsuyori, over the objections of his veteran commanders, opted to attack. Wary of the Takeda cavalry charge, Oda Nobunaga constructed wooden palisades, interspersed with breaks to allow counterattacks. When the Katsuyori attack force emerged from the forest, counting on the Oda gunpowder being wet from the recent raíns, Katsuyori saw an opportunity to defeat his enemies and ordered his cavalry to charge. Firing by rank, the Teppo decimated the first wave of cavalry as they tried to close for the kill. Takeda's pride became his downfall. Time and again, he ordered new charges that all failed. Thousands of the Takeda cavalry died as a result. Unable to breach the Oda defenses by mid-afternoon, the Takeda were forced to retire and the siege was lifted. This battle marked the end of the unchallenged ascendency of the mounted samurai.

Nagashino Castle, Mikawa, Honshu, Japan

Takeda Katsuyori attacked the castle on 16 June, using Takeda gold miners to tunnel under the walls, rafts to ferry samurai across the rivers, and siege towers. On 22 June the siege became a blockade, complete with palisades and cables strewn across the river. Sadamasa's wife, Kamehime, was the daughter of Tokugawa Ieyasu. She helped to defend the castle by sending a letter with Torii Suneemon which asked her father for reinforcements. Torii reached Okazaki, where Ieyasu and Nobunaga promised help. Later, both Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga sent troops to assist Sadamasa to break the siege and defeat Katsuyori. Returning that message back to the castle, Torii was captured and hung on a cross before the castle walls. However, he was still able to shout out that relief was on the way before he was killed. Okudaira Sadamasa led the castle garrison and held firm, repelling the Takeda siege until an allied Tokugawa-Oda relief force arrived.

Wikipedia: Battle of Nagashino

Oda - Tokugawa

Takeda