in Damascus 1868: Kondo Isami, Shinsengumi May 17th, 2011 Headsman On this date in 1868, Shinsengumi commander Kondo Isami was beheaded at Itabashi as the civil war between the Tokugawa Shogunate and the rising Meiji government that would replace it unfolded. A commoner raised to samurai, Kondo is famous for commanding the