INTERACTIVE BATTLE
Battle of Nagashino
29 June 1575 · Nagashino and Shitaragahara, Mikawa Province
Takeda Katsuyori besieged Nagashino castle and was met by Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu at Shitaragahara. Palisades and firearms broke the Takeda charge, and Katsuyori lost many of his senior commanders.
Background
After Shingen’s death his heir Katsuyori pushed into Mikawa and surrounded Nagashino castle. The castellan Okudaira Sadamasa held out with a small garrison and sent a messenger running to Okazaki for help.
Outcome
The Takeda withdrew having lost Yamagata Masakage, Baba Nobuharu, Sanada Nobutsuna and many others. The house never recovered and fell seven years later.
Course of the battle
1 May–June 1575
Takeda Katsuyori besieges Nagashino castle
Katsuyori closed on Nagashino castle with fifteen thousand men. Okudaira Sadamasa held it with some five hundred, and its fall looked only a matter of time.
Points of debate
This falls in the middle of the 4th lunar month, for which the conversion to the Western calendar could not be fixed.
Besieges Nagashino castle
Sources123·Certainty: Medium
2 22–23 June
Torii Sune’emon runs to Okazaki
Slipping out of the castle, Torii Sune’emon ran as far as Okazaki, confirmed that relief was on its way, and turned back. He was caught immediately after passing word to the castle and put to death.
Points of debate
The words attributed to him at the end are heavily coloured by tradition.
Sources123·Certainty: Traditional account
3 26 June
The Oda and Tokugawa reach Shitaragahara
More than thirty thousand Oda and Tokugawa troops moved into Shitaragahara and raised palisades along the Rengo river. The plan was to draw the Takeda onto open ground and receive them in front of the fences.
Sources12·Certainty: High
4 late night, 28 June
Sakai Tadatsugu strikes Tobigasuyama fort
A detached force under Sakai Tadatsugu crossed the hills in the night and fell on the forts of Tobigasuyama that ringed Nagashino. The castle was relieved and the Takeda rear put at risk.
Surprises the Tobigasuyama forts
Sources123·Certainty: Medium
5 early morning, 29 June
The battle opens at Shitaragahara
The Takeda advanced on the palisades and the fighting began. The Oda and Tokugawa, armed with firearms, shot from behind the fences and absorbed charge after charge.
Points of debate
Accounts of volley fire in three ranks and of three thousand guns were shaped by later writers, and the actual handling is disputed.
Sources12·Certainty: Disputed
6 early afternoon, 29 June
The Takeda withdraw and their senior commanders fall
Historical significance
The battle is remembered for the mass use of firearms, though accounts such as volley fire in three ranks owe much to later retelling. What is not in doubt is that it settled the decline of the Takeda and the rise of the Oda.
Key figures
織田氏
4
Commander-in-chief of the Oda
Raised palisades at Shitaragahara and absorbed the Takeda attack.
Sources12·Certainty: High
徳川氏
4
Commander-in-chief of the Tokugawa
Met the Takeda at Shitaragahara alongside the Oda.
Sources12·Certainty: High
Tokugawa commander
Led a detached force that took the Tobigasuyama forts and relieved Nagashino castle.
Sources12·Certainty: High
Tokugawa commander
Took part in the fighting at Shitaragahara.
Sources12·Certainty: Medium
Other events of 1575
Notes on the data
Dates are given in the Western (Julian) calendar. The sources use the lunar calendar; 29 June here corresponds to the 21st day of the 5th month of Tensho 3. The siege of Nagashino began in the middle of the 4th lunar month, for which no conversion could be fixed, and is given to the month only.
Sources consulted
- Wikipedia「長篠の戦い」
- Wikipedia「設楽原の戦い」
- 城郭マスタ（shiro.geojson）
- 新城市「其の八 酒井忠次の大作戦「鳶ヶ巣山」」
- 鶴岡市「酒井家ゆかりの地」（所在地: 愛知県新城市乗本神出）
- 地理院地図 住所検索（愛知県新城市乗本）
The numbers in the text refer to the list above. Certainty indicates how far a statement is supported by the cited sources; it does not refer to the precision of the coordinates or the dating.
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