The Meiji Restoration and Takeo
Shigeharu Nabeshima and the Takeo Unit

         In January of 1868, the Boshin Civil War between supporters of the old Tokugawa shogunate and the new government began. In May, Shigeharu Nabeshima, the 29th lord of Takeo, received a mobilization order from the government for soldiers from the Takeo territory because of their advanced training with Western gunnery. Roughly 1,000 soldiers of the Takeo unit were dispatched to Akita. Soldiers from both sides of the fighting were amazed by the latest military technology, the Armstrong cannon.
         In October, the Boshin Civil War ended and the soldiers of the Takeo unit returned to Takeo in November. Fourteen soldier of the Takeo died during the Boshin Civil War.

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