Yamaguchi Motomi
Yamaguchi Motomi (山口 素臣, 8 June 1846 – 7 July 1904) was a Japanese Samurai and an Imperial Japanese Army general who participated in the First Sino-Japanese War and the Boxer Rebellion. He was described as the "Warlord during the Warlord" due to his extensive campaigns and his most notable award being the Order of the Golden Kite. Biography. Motomi was born into the Chōshū Domain during the Edo Period in Hagi as the son of Yoshiyoshi Yamamoto, a samurai of the Yamaguchi domain; he was adopted by Yoshiyoshi Yamaguchi, who was a samurai of the same domain . He partook in military service during the Boshin War within the Kiheitai. After the Meiji Restoration, he served in the Imperial Japanese Army. In September 1870, he joined the Second Guidance Corps of the Osaka Army and was appointed army sergeant in April 1871. During the same year, he was promoted from lieutenant to captain, and became an army major since October 1873. In January of the following year, when the First Regiment of the Konoye Infantry was established, he became the first battalion chief and participated in the Saga Rebellion. In the following Satsuma Rebellion, he participated in the  Battle of Tabaruzaka on March 4. He attacked the right wing of the Satsuma army in the Toyooka and Hirahara districts (now Ueki-cho, Kita-ku, Kumamoto City), but he was attacked and wounded. The Konoye Regiment at that time was organized by two battalions, and there were four battalion chiefs in total, but all three battalion chiefs other than Motomi were killed in battle. After the war, he announced his post-war training as commander of the 9th Infantry Regiment and the Commander of the 7th Infantry Regiment before advancing to army colonel in February 1882. From March of  the same year, he was appointed chief of staff of Kumamoto Garrison, chief of staff of Tokyo in May 1885, and chief of staff of Konoye in May 1886. From September 1887 to June of the following year, he visited Europe and the United States. In September 1889, he succeeded Shinagawa, who died of illness on September 5, 1890, and in February 1890, he became the army major general and infantry 10th brigade chief, and in the Seki War, which began in 1894, he went on to advance as the 3rd Brigade Chief of the 2nd Division Subordinate Infantry. On  January 20, he landed on the Shandong Peninsula since on July 25, 1894, the First Sino-Japanese War broke out. During the Sino-Japanese War, vomiting disease was prevalent among soldiers who landed in the order of travel. When Yamaguchi visited the field hospital, he held a soldier's hand, stroked his back, and scolded him, "What should I do if the sickness takes my life to throw away for the nation?" He led the right-wing corps to participate in the Battle of Weihaiwei. At the Battle, in the early morning of January 29, prior to the battle , he  stood on a small hill to observe the battle situation. At that time, a shell on the Qing side exploded nearby, and a reporter from the American Chronicle (Either The San Francisco Chronicle or The Augusta Chronicle) next to him fell. When Yamaguchi pulled him up, he said in a calm tone, "I may come back later, so I should go away soon." Due to his victory and achievement in Weihaiwei, he was awarded to be a baron in August 1895 after the war, and in October 1896, he advanced to Lieutenant General of the Army and was supplemented by  the 5th Division Commander. In 1900, he was sent to participate in the Boxer Rebellion due to Japanese involvement in the conflict and was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Asahi and the Order of the Golden Kite. In March 1904, he was promoted to General of the Army and appointed the military councilor officer before his death in August of the same year. His place of burial is at Aoyama Cemetery, Minato, Tokyo. Juhachi Yamaguchi, the adopted son who succeeded him, was attacked as a child. Juhachi later became a major general in the Army, and  served as the chief of the Infantry 11th Brigade and the Chief of the 1st Brigade of the Guard Infantry.