Battle of Uji (1184)

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Second Battle of Uji
partof=the Genpei War


caption=Panorama of the Uji River.
date=February 19, 1184
place=Uji, just outside Kyoto
casus=Minamoto no Yoshinaka seeks to gain command of the clan
territory=
result=Minamoto no Yoshitsune et al victory
combatant1=Minamoto clan faction
combatant2=Minamoto clan faction
commander1=Minamoto no Yoshitsune
commander2=Minamoto no Yoshinaka
strength1=
strength2=
casualties1=
casualties2=
Minamoto no Yoshinaka tried to wrest power from his cousins Yoritomo and Yoshitsune, seeking to take command of the Clan. To that end, he sacked Kyoto, burning the Hōjūji Palace, kidnapping Emperor Go-Shirakawa and having himself named shogun. However, his cousins caught up with him soon afterwards, following him across the Bridge over the Uji, New Year's Day, 1184, which he tore up to impair their crossing, in an ironic reversal of the first Battle of the Uji, only four years earlier.Much as the Taira did in that first battle, Minamoto no Yoshitsune led his horsemen across the river, and defeated Yoshinaka, and pursued him away from the capital.

References

* Sansom, George (1958). 'A History of Japan to 1334'. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
* Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.