Siege of Shiroishi

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Siege of Shiroishi
partof=the Sengoku period


caption=
date=1600
place= Shiroishi castle, near Sendai
result=Tokugawa victory
combatant1=Forces loyal to Tokugawa Ieyasu
combatant2=Forces loyal to Ishida Mitsunari
commander1=Date Masamune, Mogami Yoshiaki
commander2=Unknown
strength1=
strength2=
casualties1=
casualties2=

The siege of Shiroishi, in 1600, was one of several feudal Japanese battles leading up to the decisive battle of Sekigahara which ended the period of over 100 years of war, and was immediately followed by the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate. Shiroishi was a castle just south of the city of Sendai, controlled by a retainer of Uesugi Kagekatsu, who in turn was one of the chief supporters of Ishida Mitsunari.

Date Masamune and Mogami Yoshiaki, daimyo of large nearby domains, laid siege to this castle, beginning the conflict in the north between the representatives of Ishida and Tokugawa. Its capture would also mark the first contribution of Date Masamune to the Sekigahara campaign.

This would be followed by two counter-sieges on the part of Uesugi Kagekatsu and Naoe Kanetsugu against the castles of Hataya, Kaminoyama and Hasedo.

References

*Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.