Bombardment of Kagoshima

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Bombardment of Kagoshima
(薩英戦争)
partof=


caption=Bird's-eye view of the bombardment of Kagoshima by the Royal Navy, August 15th, 1863. Le Monde Illustré.
date=August 15 to August 17, 1863
place=Kagoshima, Japan
result=Mitigated British victory
combatant1=United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
combatant2=Japanese Satsuma clan
commander1=Sir Augustus Kuper |commander2=Lord Shimazu Hisamitsu
strength1=British sailors
Royal Marines
7 steam warships
strength2=Japanese samurai
3 steam warships
casualties1=11 British sailors killed, 52 wounded
casualties2=5 Japanese and civilians killed
3 steam warships burnt.
campaign=

The Bombardment of Kagoshima, also known as the nihongo|Anglo-Satsuma War|薩英戦争|Satsu-Ei Sensō, took place on 15-17 August 1863 during the Late Tokugawa shogunate. The British Royal Navy bombarded the town of Kagoshima while trying to exact a payment from the daimyo of Satsuma following the Namamugi Incident of 1862, in which British nationals were attacked (1 killed, 2 wounded) by Satsuma "samurai" for not, contrary to the local custom, showing proper respect for a daimyo.

Background

Following the Namamugi Incident on September 14, 1862, the Bakufu (Japanese central government), eager to avoid trouble with Western powers, negotiated with France and Great Britain on July 2nd, 1863, on board the French warship "Sémiramis", apologized and paid a fine of 100,000 pounds to the British authorities. Participating in the settlement were the main French and British political and navy representatives of the time: Duchesne de Bellecourt the French Minister in Japan, Lieutenant-Colonel Neale the Chargé d'affaires of Great Britain, Admiral Jaurès and Admiral Kuper. [Polak 2002, p.92]

Satsuma Province however refused to apologize, to pay the indemnity of 25,000 pounds demanded by the British, or to convict and execute the two Japanese samurai responsible for the murder, arguing that disrespect to the Daimyō was normally sanctioned by the immediate death of those showing disrespect. Legally, their claim was invalid in this case, as foreigners in Japan benefited from extraterritoriality due to Japan's reluctant acceptance of what the Japanese called the Unequal treaties with the West. Japanese customary law did not apply to foreigners. Furthermore, politically, Satsuma could not be seen as submitting to Western demands in the very anti-foreign context at that time in Japan.

Great Britain, however, wished to make a point against anti-foreign outrages in Japan. Other anti-foreign troubles were occurring throughout the country at the same time, reinforced by Emperor Kōmei's 1863 "Order to expel barbarians". The western powers chose to react militarily to such exactions: the straits of Shimonoseki had already seen attacks on American, Dutch and French ships passing through, each of which had brought retaliation from those countries, with the U.S. frigate USS "Wyoming" under Captain McDougal, the Dutch warship "Medusa" under Kapitein de Casembroot, and the two French warships "Tancrède" and the "Dupleix" under Captain Benjamin Jaurès attacking the mainland. Eventually, on 14 August 1864, a multinational fleet under Admiral Kuper and the Royal Navy commenced the Bombardment of Shimonoseki to prevent further attacks on western shipping there. They succeeded.

Protestations of the Bakufu

Following protracted and fruitless negotiations with Satsuma that had taken over a year, the British Chargé d'affaires eventually had had enough. Under the British Government's instructions, he required the Royal Naval Commander-in-Chief of the Far East and China Station to implement the British Government's demands. Informed of the plans, the Bakufu asked for a delay in its implementation:

On the 5th, a Vice-Minister from Edo visited Colonel Neale, but far from further opposing the expedition actually transmitted that the Shogunate intended to send one of its steamers with the squadron. The steamer in question however did not join the expedition. [Rennie, p.382]

Departure

The British squadron left Yokohama on August 6th. It was composed of the flagship HMS "Euryalus" (with Colonel Neale onboard), [Rennie, p.382] HMS "Pearl", HMS "Perseus", HMS "Argus", HMS "Coquette", HMS "Racehorse" and the gunboat HMS "Havoc", sailed for Kagoshima and anchored in the deep waters of Kinko Bay on August 11th, 1863. Satsuma envoys came aboard Euryalus and letters were exchanged, with the British commander pressing for a resolution satisfactory to his demands within 24 hours. The Satsuma clan prevaricated, refusing to comply for various reasons.

Combat

The deadline expired, and diplomacy gave way to coercion. Deciding to put pressure on Satsuma, the British Navy commander seized three foreign-built steam merchant ships ("Sir George Grey", "Contest", "England", with an aggregate value of about $300,000/₤200,000 sterling) belonging to Satsuma which were at anchor in Kagoshima harbour, in order to use them as a bargaining tool. Picking their moment, just as a typhoon started, the Satsuma forces on shore vented their anger by firing their round shot cannons at the British ships. Surprised, the British fleet responded by first pillaging and then setting on fire the three captured steamships (to the chagrin of the British sailors, who were thereby deprived of prize money). Then, after nearly two hours getting ready (they had not expected or intended to get into any exchange of fire with Satsuma), a line of battle was formed, which sailed along the coast of Kagoshima and fired cannon shells and round shot. One of the British warships, the gunboat "Havoc", set five Loochooan trading junks on fire.

The naval bombardment claimed just five lives among the people of Satsuma (the city had been evacuated in anticipation of the conflict), and 13 lives among the British (including Captain Josling of the British flagship "Euryalus", and his second-in-command Commander Wilmot, both decapitated by the same cannonball). Material losses were considerable, with around 500 wood-and-paper houses burnt in Kagoshima (about 5% of Kagoshima's urban area), and the three Satsuma steamships and five junks destroyed. The encounter was face-saving for Satsuma, and was even claimed as a victory by the Japanese side, considering the relative number of casualties. The British ships did not land troops or seize cannons (which would have signalled the absolute defeat of Satsuma), Kuper having decided that enough was enough.

Final negotiations and convergence

Satsuma however later negotiated and paid ₤25,000 (which they borrowed from the bakufu and never repaid, due to the fall of the bakufu in 1869 and its replacement by the Meiji administration). They never produced or identified Richardson's killers, but despite this, the reparation received was enough to obtain an agreement by Great Britain to supply steam warships to Satsuma.

The conflict actually became the starting point of a close relationship between Satsuma and Great Britain, which became major allies in the ensuing Boshin War. From the start, the Satsuma Province had generally been in favour of the opening and modernization of Japan. Although the Namamugi Incident was unfortunate, it was not characteristic of Satsuma's policy, and was rather abusively branded as an example of anti-foreign sonnō jōi sentiment, as a justification to a strong Western show of force.

An interesting historical footnote to this incident was that a young Heihachiro Togo was manning one of the cannons used to defend the port, and is reported to have attributed his future career as head and 'father' of the Imperial Japanese Navy to this moment.

ee also

*Anglo-Japanese relations
*Bombardment of Shimonoseki

Notes

References

* 'The Bombardment of Kagoshima', Chapter VIII, "A Diplomat in Japan" by Sir Ernest Satow
* Polak, Christian (2002). 日仏交流の黄金期　Soie et Lumière, L'Âge d'or des échanges Franco-Japonais (in Japanese and French). Hachette Fujingaho.
* Rennie, David Field, "The British Arms in North China and Japan" Adamant Media Corporation, ISBN 1402181841