Battle of Nagashino, 1575
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Gunpowder Era
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7 comments
| Oda Nobunanga and Tokugawa Ieyasu versus Takeda Katsuyori: An army under Takeda besieges a castle when it is assailed by a much larger army under Oda/Tokugawa. Will Takeda’s samurai overpower Oda/Tokugawa’s relatively untested arquebuses performing volley fire? Click on images below to view battle; first image opens video presentation and the second image opens PowerPoint presentation.
Arquebuses did not decide this battle; that much should be clear. They showed a potential to be of great use but this battle did not single-handedly force arquebuses into every army.
By definition, the Takeda clan was outnumbered overwhelmingly but this does not mean victory was unattainable. Takeda vainly attacked on a wide front for too long even though the Oda/Tokugawa left flank was not defended by a palisade or river. Takeda and his soldiers attacked bravely nonetheless except Takeda lost his nerve at a critical moment in the battle when his adversaries were prepared to withdraw themselves. If the battle continued as it was going, Takeda would have lost and there was no way he could have predicted Oda/Tokugawa’s timely decision to withdraw. Both Oda and Tokugawa could be criticized for their mediocre performance in this battle but this would be unfair. They were fighting as a coalition; much like the Allies in World War II, they united to field superior numbers with conservative victory as the goal. Like many battles, the majority of casualties on the losing side were sustained in the flight.
 The research for this battle faced me with one distinct issue: the Takeda cavalry charge. Why did they charge? Did they charge at all? If so, how many times? Why did they stop? I was confronted with three different authors claiming three different stories, all of which were based on identical primary sources. I took points from each of them and developed my own conclusion: the Takeda cavalry charged but after it proved ineffective on the wet terrain, they dismounted and fought as infantry.
- Jonathan Webb
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            Tags: 1500s, arquebusier, attack from a defensive position, cavalry, Eastern Asia, envelopment of a single flank, envelopment of both flanks, Gunpowder Era, indirect approach, infantry, land, modern day Japan, Oda Nobunaga, penetration of the center, Season 2, siege, Takeda Katsuyori, Tokugawa Ieyasu
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7 Comments to “Battle of Nagashino, 1575”
you show (in your last slide) that the takeda force won the battle of nagashino. is this a typo? they suffered 66% loss, i would consider that losing the battle.
By cale on Feb 25, 2009 at 3:40 pm
That is definitely a typo. Thank you for pointing this out, it’s already been corrected as I type this.
By Jonathan Webb on Feb 25, 2009 at 4:12 pm
you said that the terrain ias wet (at the italic paragraph)
isn,t that mean it.s rainy before or is that because the river
if it’s rainy the Arquebuses couldn,t do they jobs
By Martin on Sep 30, 2009 at 10:04 am
The terrain was wet because it rained before the battle took place. Takeda reasoned that because of the rain, arquebus fire would be impossible. Oda/Nobunanga had taken precautions to prevent the gunpowder from getting wet, surprising Takeda.
By Jonathan Webb on Oct 1, 2009 at 2:33 pm
well actually most japanese historians agree that oda had 1000 arquebuses not 3000. the source document was edited by Edo period Tokugawa family historian to 3000. thats why many english sources belive it to be 3000 to this day. victors write the history ;D some of the important literature pieces about the event have been written biased towards Tokugawa Shogunate point of view around 200 years after the battle took place.
not the wet ground but the river slowed down the cavalry charge on most part - thats why Nobunaga chose the place and heavily fortified it. the unmounting came later when Takeda cavalry charges had failed and they got stuck behind the palisade easy prey for spear armed ashigaru and arquebusiers. most of the maps about Nagashino show the river running between both of the battling sides all the way, not just a part of it. eventhough Takeda coulda taken a detour to flank the opponent they were sure the matchlock wont fire with those weather conditions + Takeda was sure of their cavalry charge which had brought them a victory over Oda-Tokugawa in Mikatagahara 2 years earlier.
http://www.geocities.com/azuchiwind/map_battle_nagashino_1575.jpg
http://books.google.ee/books?id=xFaCvUTWEI0C&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=nagashino+map&source=bl&ots=7DjEYyVkVt&sig=L1bK-bqKWTz93Cs3zLQWHnJAhxQ&hl=et&ei=gC_XSuOzIqW7jAf01LTcCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=nagashino%20map&f=false
By Mihkel on Oct 15, 2009 at 2:42 pm
First of all,i d like to contratulate this beautiful work,specially when even included a famous battle in Japan Sengoku Jidai.I was really surprised find something like that in the net.
Takeda cavalry has charged for a good reason that no one has said yet:
Takeda cavalry was famous in that age,it was said to be the best cavalry of all Japan.Takeda relies so much in their cavalry,because they were scaring and well trained,they were Takeda´s symbol of power.
And their effectiveness can be known in their earlier battles ,like in the famous Mikatakagahara,where they were crucial to overcome Oda firepower.
So,i would like to ask the creator of this site others greaters battle in feudal Japan ,that were richer in tactics.What i would suggest is:
-Battle of Okehazama: Oda, outnumbered 12 to 1, killed Imagawa Yoshimoto
-4th Battle of Kawakanajima:a great show of tactics by the 2 greaters and rivals strategist in that age.
-Siege of Osaka:Toyotomi army was largely outnumbered ,but their maneuver was effective to resist for so much time.
By Sanada Yukimura on Jan 16, 2010 at 2:47 am
Those battles will definitely be considered for future seasons. Thank you.
By Jonathan Webb on Feb 15, 2010 at 6:38 pm