 | |
| Battle of Mikatagahara | |
| Date | January 25, 1573 |
| Location | Mikatagahara, north of Hamamatsu |
| Result | Takeda victory |
| Takeda | Tokugawa-Oda |
| Takeda Shingen | Tokugawa Ieyasu |
| Takeda Katsuyori Yamagata Masakage Baba Nobuharu Naito Masatoyo Anayama Nobukimi Obata Masamori Saegusa Moritomo Tsuchiya Masatsugu |
Tokugawa Natsume Yoshinobu Honda Tadakatsu Ishikawa Kazumasa Hattori Hanzō Ogasawara Nagayoshi Matsudaira Ietada Sakai Tadatsugu Amano Yasukage Torii Mototada Ōkubo Tadayo Mizuno Tadashige Naruse Masayoshi † Toyama Kosaku † Endō Ukon † Oda Takigawa Kazumasu Sakuma Nobumori Hirate Norihide † |
The Battle of Mikatagahara was one of the most famous battles of Takeda Shingen's campaigns, and one of the best demonstrations of his cavalry-based tactics.
Background[]
The importance the Battle of Mikatagahara came about as a result of a major drive south by Takeda Shingen against Ieyasu Tokugawa`s fortress of Hamamatsu. The Takeda army was drawn up on the high ground of MikatagaHara, to the north of Hamamatsu, where Ieyasu advanced to meet them in pitched battle, even though his officers weren't in favor of a battle with Shingen.[1]
Battle[]
Tokugawa Ieyasu’s army numbered a total of 11,000 troops, comprising 8,000 of his own men and 3,000 reinforcements provided by Oda Nobunaga. He arranged his forces in a linear formation, positioning his personal headquarters slightly to the rear. On the left flank were three Mikawa generals Matsudaira Ietada, Honda Tadakatsu, and Ishikawa Kazumasa alongside Ogasawara Nagayoshi. On the right flank, extending toward the Magomegawa, were the three Oda contingents with the trusted general Sakai Tadatsugu stationed on the extreme right.[2]
Tokugawa Ieyasu fought the Takeda on the snow-covered plain of Mikatagahara. The Takeda army was drawn up on the high ground in full battle order. At about four o'clock in the afternoon, as the snow was beginning to fall, the front ranks of the Tokugawa opened fire on the Takeda army with stones. Even though the Tokugawa's effect on provoking the Takeda had succeeded, the Oda reinforcements had begun retiring. At this point the Takeda cavalry led by Katsuyori Takeda charged at the Tokugawa. This led the Tokugawa army to retreat.[3] Driven from the field by the Takeda cavalry, Tokugawa Ieyasu took refuge in Hamamatsu castle until Takeda turned for a spring offence.[4]
After Ieyasu returned to Hamamatsu castle, he had earlier sent to the castle a samurai who had cut the head of a warrior wearing a monk's cowl. He had proclaimed it to be the head of Shingen, but it had given them only a temporary respite from worry, and the rapid arrival of Ieyasu with apparently only five men remaining made it appear that defeat was certain. Torii Mototada gave orders for the gates to be shut and barred when Ieyasu interrupted him that to shut the gates was precisely what Takeda Shingen expected them to do, he reasoned. Instead he ordered for the gates to be left open for their retreating comrades, and huge braziers to be lit to guide them home. To add to this confident air Sakai Tadatsugu took a large war drum and beat it in the tower beside the gate. Feeling satisfied, Ieyasu afterwards took 3 meals of rice and went to sleep. Tokugawa's trick had worked on the Takeda and with only 16 arquebusiers and 100 other foot soldiers, the Tokugawa army attacked the Takeda force at the castle and successfully cut them down.[5]
Aftermath[]
After Shingen was informed of the attack, all the signs now pointed towards a long and desperate siege, and the snows were just beginning. In the event Takeda Shingen held a war council and resolved to withdraw and return the following year rather than risk a winter siege of Hamamatsu.[6]