薩長同盟
Politically, he supported the moderate "Kōbu Gattai" policy of attempting to reconcile the Tokugawa Bakufu with the Imperial Court. During the Boshin War of the Meiji Restoration, he commanded his forces as part of the Satchō Alliance in support of Emperor Meiji, and fought at the Battle of Toba–Fushimi and against the Tokugawa remnants of the Ōuetsu Reppan Dōmei in northern Japan, at Morioka and Akita.