Itagaki Taisuke
Following the Boshin War in 1868, Kondō and Hijikata led the Shinsengumi in their final battles against the new government and fought in the Battle of Toba–Fushimi in January 1868. The Shinsengumi returned to Edo and was later reformed into a unit known as the and departed from Edo for Kōfu Castle on March 24 upon orders to suppress the uprisings there. But while on the way there, they received news on March 28 that the Kōfu Castle was taken by Imperial Court forces led by Itagaki Taisuke and later settled at a town of Katsunuma five miles east of Kōfu.