* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Nakayama Tadamitsu
中山忠光
Son of Nakayama Tadayoshi Who Organized the Tenchūgumi and Raised Troops in Yamato
- Era
- Late Edo period (Bakumatsu)
- Lifespan
- 1845-1864
Description
Nakayama Tadamitsu was a son of Nakayama Tadayoshi and an activist of the anti-foreign movement in the late Edo period. He is said to have been born on the 13th day of the 4th month of Kōka 2 (18 May 1845).
Raising of the Tenchūgumi
In the 8th month of 1863 (Bunkyū 3) he organized the Tenchūgumi in Kyoto and raised troops by attacking the magistrate's office at Gojō in Yamato Province. On 28 August of the same year his father, Nakayama Tadayoshi, disowned him.
Collapse and flight to Chōshū
On 24 September 1863 the Tenchūgumi was surrounded by shogunate forces at Washikaguchi in Yoshino and destroyed. Thanks to the fighting of Nasu Shingo and others, Tadamitsu broke out of the encirclement, went through Ōsaka, and fled to Chōshū.
Death
In the following year, Genji 1 (1864), he is said to have been assassinated within the Chōshū domain by the domain's conciliatory faction. The date is the 15th day of the 11th month of Genji 1 by the old calendar (13 December 1864). The place is Tagō village in Toyoura District, present-day Shimonoseki. His grave is in the Nakayama Shrine precinct in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture.