Part 30
When, on the result of the battle of Fushimi between the Tokugawa men and the Imperialist regiments belonging to Satsuma and Choshiu becoming known at Osaka, the Shogun recognised the impossibility of retrieving the fortunes of the day, his retainers procured a small boat for him at an adjacent wharf and he made his way to the vessels belonging to him,—three in number,—lying off Tempo-san, at the mouth of the river Yodo, on which the city of Osaka stands. He was quickly taken on board the _Kai-yo Maru_, Admiral Enomoto’s flagship, and she was next seen entering Kobé harbour with her consorts on the 26th January 1868, Prince Keiki being on board. Lying in Kobé were three Satsuma steamers, and the _Kai-yo Maru_ challenged them to combat by steaming round them and leading the way to the open sea. The contest took place in “Awa Bay” as it is termed, in reality the indentation of the coast facing Tokushima, the chief town of Awa province, close to the southern extremity of the island of Awaji, a few hours’ steam from Kobé. One of the Satsuma ships was sunk and another took fire. The three ships under Admiral Enomoto, one of which was the steam-yacht _Emperor_ which Queen Victoria had sent out as a present to the Shogun some time before, escaped with slight damage, and subsequently steamed to Yedo, where the Prince Tokugawa Keiki landed a week after the battle. The _Emperor_ yacht was best known by her Japanese name of _Banrio Maru_. Several of the clans at this period possessed foreign-built steamers, and the chieftain Shimadzu Saburo of Satsuma had purchased the _Fiery Cross_ in Yokohama as far back as 1862, as a present for his nephew the _daimio_ of Kagoshima. She had been handed over to her new owners in Yedo bay and navigated by them to the headquarters of the clan. The ships belonging to the several territorial barons were ultimately surrendered to the Central Government, after the Restoration, as well as those belonging to the Shogunate, and formed the nucleus of the splendid navy that Japan may now rightfully pride herself on having established.
The eight ships which had been lying in Shinagawa waters, and which were to have been given up to the Imperial Government when Yedo was finally surrendered, suddenly left there, however, on October 4th, 1898, under the command of Admiral Enomoto, and it became known that he had stolen away to Hakodate. There, in conjunction with three other supporters of the Shogun’s lost cause, he presently proclaimed the “Republic of Yeso,” the other signatories being Otori Keisuke (subsequently pardoned, and at a later date the faithful and energetic representative of Japan at the Court of Korea) Matsudaira Taro,—a relative, as his name implied, though in this case a distant one, of the Tokugawa family, and Arai Ikunosuke, subsequently appointed to an office under the Colonisation Department in Yeso, and in which he evinced no little talent as an organiser.
Admiral Enomoto declared that his reason for going to Hakodate with his squadron was that he and his friends had resolved to guard the Northern Gate for the Emperor, and to till the soil, as yet wholly uncultivated, of the island of Yeso.
“Men who have the hearts of Samurai,” they pleaded, “cannot turn into farmers or merchants, so it appeared to us that there was nothing for us but to starve. And considering the untilled state of the island of Yeso we petitioned the Government that we might remove thither, but all in vain.” In sheer despair they had sailed north at their own risk, using force only against the fortified places, Hakodate and Matsumai (now Fukuyama). “The farmers and merchants are unmolested, going about their business without fear, and are sympathising with us, so that already,” they added, “we have brought some land under cultivation. We pray that this portion of the Empire may be conferred upon our late lord, Tokugawa Kamenosuké, and in that case we shall repay your beneficence by our faithful guardianship of the Northern Gate.” The newly appointed head of the Tokugawa clan, here alluded to as Kamenosuké, now Prince Tokugawa Iyesato, President of the House of Peers, was ordered to go to Yeso and restrain his clansmen, but it was asked that as this young prince was then only a child of five years old, the ex-Shogun Keiki might be given control. This, however, was refused, lest his prestige might still be employed by his followers to incite others to rebellion and thus prolong a useless struggle.
“Why should we quit this spot?” asked Enomoto afterwards, when told he must surrender: “If his Majesty the Emperor will take pity on us and give us a portion of this barren northern region, our men shall guard the gate till death, whilst for the crime of having opposed the Imperial army, we two [Matsudaira and himself] will gladly suffer capital punishment.”
It was not until the following spring that the newly formed Central Government at Yedo found itself able to turn its attention seriously to the subjugation of the little band of malcontents up north, and then the Imperial fleet steamed away from the anchorage at the head of the bay, off Shinagawa, intending to rendezvous at Hakodate where the rebels were making a last stand. The chief hope of the Satsuma officers lay in their recent acquisition, the _Stonewall_, to which had been given the Japanese title of _Adzuma_. She had been employed in the American Civil War before she came into Japanese hands, as one of the Federal Squadron in the assault on Vicksburg.
The _Adzuma_ though of small tonnage, was an ironclad, and with her mighty ram she presented a most sinister appearance. Altogether the collective fleet made a very good beginning, and the Imperialists were justly proud of it as marking an appreciable advance on the agglomeration of war junks with which the nation’s sea-fighting had been done under the old conditions.
The _Stonewall_ (or _Adzuma_) had been bought in America by the agents of the Shogunate, and she dropped anchor in Yokohama on the 24th of April 1868, only a few days before the Prince Tokugawa Keiki resigned his office. She was never delivered to the Shogun’s government, but was, by order of the American Minister, retained in port at Yokohama under the Stars and Stripes ensign, though as a matter of fact she had flown the flag of Japan on her voyage thither from the United States. There was some little heart-burning at this, for it was thought that had she been available for use by the Shogunate party which had bought her, she might with her far greater power have made short work of the imperial fleet. But, as we have seen, the Shogun was then ready to resign, and all prospect of success vanished with his submission to the Emperor five days after the ironclad’s arrival in Japanese waters.
With the resignation of the Shogun she naturally came into the hands of the Imperialists, to whom the United States authorities were no doubt justified under the circumstances in delivering her, and she set out bravely enough with the remainder of the imperial squadron for the north in 1869. But less than twenty-four hours had elapsed before she was in difficulties with her engines, and it was with much trouble and anxiety that she was navigated as far towards Yeso as the harbour of Miyako, a little to the north of Sendai Bay, and about half way to Hakodate. Here she might have been captured, but for good luck, for she had entered to coal and her crew were ashore, not scenting danger, as they had no expectation that any of Admiral Enomoto’s vessels were in the vicinity. While she was lying at anchor the _Eagle_, flying the Shogunate ensign, steamed in, and catching sight of the ram, charged her at full speed. It was magnificent, but it was not war, and the _Eagle’s_ bow was severely damaged by the exploit. There was a tussle on the deck of the _Adzuma_, and several were killed on either side, but numbers were with the Imperialists, and the _Eagle_ was obliged to seek safety as best she could in flight. She ultimately reached port at Hakodate, though her consort, the _Ashuelot_ gunboat, which was waiting for her outside Miyako, contrived to run ashore, it being rather a foggy time of year, and was captured with all hands, by the Imperial fleet, which followed as soon as steam could be got up, and went to Aomori Bay, on the south side of the Straits of Tsugaru, opposite to Hakodate.
The engagement which shortly afterwards took place on land and sea at Hakodate itself was described by eye-witnesses as a splendidly contested affair from first to last. The besiegers advanced under a very heavy and well-sustained fire, and Admiral Enomoto’s defence of his vessels, on the other hand, was skilful and resolute. The _Kwan-gun_ or Imperialist forces, which had come to the straits overland from Tokio, were landed on Hakodate Head in the rear of the town of Hakodate, while the rebels held the battery at Benten, and the villages of Chiyoga-oka and Goriokaku. They were under the command of Matsudaira Taro, Otori Keisuke, and Arai Ikunosuke, while Admiral Enomoto was afloat, one of his captains being the present Ambassador in London, Viscount Hayashi. Despite their undoubted bravery, the Tokugawa men were overmatched, for the Imperialists acquired a position which dominated the fortifications of the town from the hill behind, and when at last he saw that it would merely prolong the strife and cause useless bloodshed if he persisted in his opposition, Admiral Enomoto, yielding to the earnest remonstrances of the Imperialist Army, surrendered, and the Shogun’s followers finally laid down their arms.
Admiral Enomoto and many of those with him were imprisoned for a time, but there was no desire to treat harshly those who had been loyal to the party which had a claim on their services, notwithstanding that they had of necessity been classed as rebels, and Enomoto was himself given a high post as Minister of the Colonisation Department then newly established under the title of the Kai-taku-shi, its operations being specially directed to the development of this northernmost island of the Empire. Thus in some degree Enomoto had his wish gratified, of being entrusted with the guardianship of the Northern Gate, but in 1874 he was despatched to St Petersburg on a mission to arrange with the Russian Government for the exchange, in conformity with Russia’s request, of the southern half of Sakhalin island for the northern half of the chain of islets forming the Kuriles Archipelago. When he returned from Russia he was again occupied with the work of Colonisation, and in 1882 he went to China as Japan’s representative at the Court of Peking.
He has occupied a seat in the Cabinet on several occasions, having held the portfolios, at various times, of the Navy, Foreign Affairs, Education, Communications, and Agriculture and Commerce. The last-named office he occupied in the Second Ito Ministry at the close of 1896, and was similarly placed in the Second Matsukata Ministry which fell in December 1897.
It was characteristic of him that when the conflict was over at Hakodate in 1869 he sent to the Imperialist Generals two volumes on Naval Tactics which he had studied while in Holland prior to 1866. They were very valuable books, he said, and were otherwise unobtainable in the Empire and he could not bear that they should be destroyed. The Imperialist leaders acknowledged the gift, and in return sent to the Admiral five kegs of _saké_, the native wine. Enomoto and Matsudaira were both resolved on putting an end to their lives by the traditionally honourable act of _seppuku_, but they were closely watched and were prevented from doing so, and they finally surrendered and were taken prisoners to Yedo, where, as already explained, their punishment was only of brief duration.
Happily, Admiral Enomoto, though no longer on the active List of the Navy, is still in the enjoyment of good general health at seventy years of age. He is rightfully regarded by the younger men as the father, to all intents and purposes, of the Japanese Navy, and his exploits at the beginning of the Meiji era certainly entitle him to a high place in the affections of those who recognise in the fleet as it exists to-day a bulwark of defence against invasion and a force which has proved itself capable of making the flag of the Rising Sun Empire everywhere respected.
XXI
ADMIRAL TOGO HEIHACHI
If Admiral Enomoto was the first to obtain the title by having handled a modern Japanese fleet in actual warfare, it will be acknowledged that Admiral Togo has caused his own doings to be for ever associated with the later developments of Japan’s sea-power, and that it is his name which will descend to posterity as that of the commander who, by his skilful leading and marked ability, combined with personal attributes of a kind to inspire the loftiest esteem and even affection in all those who came into contact with him, made the Japanese fleet the tremendous fighting machine that it is to-day. It is true that the late Count Katsu (known in the pre-Restoration days as Katsu Awa-no-Kami, the personal friend of Saigo Takamori) was Minister of the Navy under the Shogunate, and commanded the first Japanese steamship that ever crossed the Pacific Ocean from Yokohama, an armed vessel which took out the Oguri Embassy to America in 1859, but the rise of the Navy must be attributed to a somewhat later period, when the rival forces fought in Awa Bay in 1868, and at Hakodate in the next year, and the leader who on those occasions most distinguished himself was Admiral Viscount Enomoto, whose adventures have been recorded. Admiral Togo represents the polished and perfected machine: Enomoto was answerable for the quality of the metal employed in its construction. Togo has all the credit of having given impetus and direction, by the force of his own example, to the studies of the Japanese naval officer and thus contributed extensively to the making of the Navy as it now exists.
[Illustration: ADMIRAL TOGO]
The Admiral is a Satsuma man, born in the castle town of Kagoshima on the 6th of December 1847, and comes of Samurai stock, his father being one of the retainers of the _daimio_ Shimadzu Saburo. When only sixteen he was placed aboard one of the small war vessels then owned by the principality, and was in the engagement with Admiral Kuper’s Squadron when the British bombarded Kagoshima in 1863. As is elsewhere explained, the Satsuma men realised that modern Western appliances gave great power to those who wielded them as weapons of warfare, and with the conviction uppermost that they had made as good a fight as could have been expected with rather antiquated guns, they forthwith prepared to be good friends with their late antagonists, and to learn all they could with the object of making the Satsuma clan a tower of strength in view of the Restoration of Imperial rule.
In 1868 Togo Heihachi was an officer aboard one of the three Satsuma ships that then came to Kobé, and fought with Admiral Enomoto’s squadron in January in Awa Bay. She was the _Kiang-Su_, later named _Kasuga-Kan_, and she routed her enemy, the _Kwai-Ten_. The _Kasuga-Kan_ had originally been Admiral Sherard Osborn’s flagship when the “Lay flotilla” was taken out to China, and as the Chinese did not want her, she was sold to the prince of Satsuma. She was a fairly fast vessel of the paddle-wheel type, and did good service for the Imperial Government after the Restoration. In the year 1871 Togo Heihachi came to England and was for the ensuing seven years in H.M.S. _Worcester_ at Greenhithe, and the Royal Naval College at Greenwich. In 1878 the _Kon-go Kan_ and _Hi-yei Kan_ composite corvettes were completed in Great Britain for the Japanese Government to the designs of Sir Edward Reed, and Togo Heihachi went out in the _Hiyei_.
From that time nothing was heard of him until the famous affair of the _Kowshing_, at the commencement of the Japan and China War, in 1894, when he commanded the _Naniwa Kan_, a Second-class Cruiser built at Elswick-on-Tyne in 1885. During the long interval he had been steadily climbing the ladder, and had gone through all the stages to the attainment of the rank of Commander. A thorough seaman, he did not disdain to personally instruct those under him in the most ordinary duties, translating naval technicalities from English text-books into Japanese for the puzzled junior officers who had not been out of Japan for their education. Later, the _Naniwa_ was one of the flying squadron of four ships under Admiral Tsuboi that preceded the main squadron under Admiral Ito into action with the Chinese fleet off Hai-Yang Island, the engagement being known as the Naval Battle of the Yalu. After the fight was over the _Naniwa_ was sent westward to reconnoitre Wei-Hai-Wei, Chifu, and Port Arthur.
When the prospect of war with Russia in 1903 necessitated much preparation at Tokio, Togo was summoned by Admiral Yamamoto, his old friend and schoolfellow, to the Capital, and he rose from a sick-bed to go, replying to his wife’s remonstrances, “I shall be well the moment I set foot on deck and drink in the salt-laden air.” It is recorded of him that while stationed at Maizuru, the naval depot on the west coast of the main island, facing Korea, he practically lived in his office, and scarcely spoke to any of his officers, merely saluting as he passed in and out. His taciturnity is proverbial, yet children in Japan find nothing forbidding in him and crowd round him with delight. He resides in an exceedingly modest dwelling-house in a Tokio suburb, its furniture and decorations being of the simplest kind. So imperturbable is he that had he been aboard his flagship the _Mikasa_ when she went down recently in harbour at Sasebo it is certain that he would not have lost his self-possession for an instant, and to those who know him best he is the “silent one,” who loves to be alone with his tiny silver tobacco pipe. His recreations are hunting game with his breech-loader and his dogs, or trout-fishing in some mountain stream. Madame Togo has said that when he went to join the United Squadrons a short time prior to the outbreak of hostilities in 1904, he merely asked her to be kind enough to take care of his dogs.
Even for a Japanese the Admiral is short, and rather stout, of figure, and people marvel when they see him that he can be “the great Togo, the Nelson of Japan.” But the energy of the man is revealed in his quick, piercing glance. He is a strict disciplinarian, and a hater, above all things, of display, or of public homage. A story is current at Sasebo that before the fleet sailed for Port Arthur he called all his officers on board the _Mikasa_ and briefly addressed them to the effect:—“We sail to-night, and our enemy flies the Russian flag.” On a tray in front of him lay one of those short daggers which in former times were used to commit _Seppuku_. As the officers filed past him he looked each one in the eyes, and all of them understood his meaning. None would have survived the disgrace of a defeat. It is his practice, it may be added, as showing his indifference to danger, to direct operations during an engagement entirely from the bridge, and he has had some narrow escapes.
The incidents of the Naval campaign of 1904-5 are so fresh in everyone’s memory that it would be tedious to go into minute details. On the night of the 8th of February 1904, the Russian fleet, which lay conveniently for Admiral Togo’s purpose outside the harbour of Port Arthur, found itself attacked. Two Russian battleships and one cruiser were torpedoed, and next day the assault was renewed with the result that another battleship and three more cruisers were badly damaged. Five days later Admiral Togo sent his destroyers to the attack in a snowstorm, and another Russian cruiser was torpedoed. On the 24th of the month an attempt was made to seal Port Arthur by sinking steamers which officers of Admiral Togo’s fleet navigated, and on the 9th and 10th March there was another destroyer attack, followed by a bombardment on the 21st and 22nd.
Five days later another desperate effort was made to block Port Arthur by sinking steamers, and on the 13th of April a Russian Squadron was decoyed out of harbour and the _Petropavlovsk_, with the Russian Admiral Makharoff on board, was sunk by a mine. At last on the 3rd of May Port Arthur was at all events temporarily blocked, for battleships and cruisers, but on the 15th Admiral Togo had the misfortune to lose two of his finest battleships, the _Hatsusé_ and _Yashima_, both built on the Tyne, having run upon drifting torpedoes. There was a naval sortie on the 23rd June, which was easily repulsed by the Japanese fleet, and on the 10th of August took place the memorable battle in the Yellow Sea, when the Russian fleet, issuing from Port Arthur, was defeated and dispersed, some of the ships getting back to harbour at the fortress, but others making for neutral ports, where they were interned until the conclusion of the war. On this occasion the Russian Admiral Vitoft was killed in action. There was a long running fight in which the _Mikasa_ greatly distinguished herself, and at 6.12 P.M. a 12-inch shell came aboard her and burst close to her bridge on the port side. Admiral Togo, with his Chief of Staff, and the captain of the ship, with five others, were on the bridge at the time, and four of the eight persons were hit by fragments, but the admiral was untouched. He had been on the bridge throughout the action, from the first exchange of shots at one o’clock, but his subordinates were resolved that he should stay there no longer, and by efforts little short of an application of physical force, he was induced to enter the conning-tower. At 8 P.M. the Russian ships had fallen into inextricable confusion, and it was left to the Japanese torpedo craft to continue the fight, with what result was never precisely ascertained. The Russian vessels at Port Arthur were ultimately sunk by their Commanders prior to the Capitulation of the 2nd January 1905, but most of them have since been raised and taken over to Japan.
On the 12th of April Admiral Rojdestvensky arrived at Kamranh Bay in Indo-China, and on the 22nd left there under pressure from France after Japanese protests had been lodged against infractions of neutrality. The battle of the Sea of Japan was fought on the 27th and 28th of May 1905, and Admiral Togo succeeded in annihilating the Russian Baltic Fleet.