Siege of Futamata

Siege of Futamata
Battle Information
Date	1572
Location	Totomi province
Result	Takeda victory, Tokugawa forces retreat
Forces
Takeda Clan	Tokugawa Clan
Commanders
Shingen Takeda	Ieyasu Tokugawa
Notable Officers
Katsuyori Takeda	Unknown

Siege of Futamata was fought in 1572 between Shingen Takeda and Ieyasu Tokugawa during the Mikatagahara campaign.

Before the battleEdit

Shingen marched his army out of his capital of Kofu in October 1572, relying on the coming snows and also relying on the Ikkō-ikki to keep Kenshin Uesugi off his tail. Shingen's first objective in the Tokugawa lands was the castle of Futamata.^[1]

Futamata was a Tokugawa possession in Totomi province. It was situated on a cliff above the Tenryugawa and obtained it's water supply by lowering the buckets into the river from withen the safety of a wooden tower known as the well-tower.^[2]

BattleEdit

When Katsuyori Takeda laid siege to it he lashed together large logs to make rafts and floated these down the river as unmanned missiles. After a while the force of these rafts hitting the supports of the well-tower caused it to collapse. The garrison surrendered.^[3]

AftermathEdit

Two months later the Takeda army pressed on past Futamata, heading for Hamamatsu.^[4]

SourcesEdit

1. ↑ War in Japan 1467-1615, Stephen Turnbull pg.46
2. ↑ Samurai Source book, Stephen Turnbull pg.222
3. ↑ Samurai Source book, Stephen Turnbull pg.222
4. ↑ Samurai Source book, Stephen Turnbull pg.222