Epilogue. Telling that everything passes, but Fuji remains.
Came from everywhere
Pilgrims - admire
Fuji snow cap …
(Chigetsu-ii)
In May 1869, the united imperial squadron led by the battleship Kotetsu fought its last battle with the Republican fleet, which tried in vain to prevent the landing near the town of Hakodate. The rebel steamer Banryu managed to sink the imperial Choyo, but all their successes ended with this. Both the Kaiten and Banryu were riddled with Kotetsu shells and sank, and the Chiyodagata, abandoned by its crew, also sank off the coast, and the Chogei, Mikaho and Shinseoki ships were forced to withdraw from the battle. The surviving sailors were fished out of the water by sailors from the English ship "Pearl" and the French "Kotlo-gon", who watched the battle with interest. By the way, these two naval battles - the first in Iva Bay and the second at Hakodate - were the first test of battle for the young officer of the Imperial Navy of the third class Heihachiro Togo, who, having received his baptism of fire here, later became an admiral who defeated the squadrons of the Russian fleet near Port Arthur and Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. But he still failed to serve on "Kotetsu". He sailed on the steamer Kasuga.
After the defeat of the fleet by sucking, the imperial troops landed on land, where they completed the defeat of the military forces of the republic. True, not immediately, since fierce battles continued for another month. Hakodate was blocked from the sea and subjected to fierce shelling from ships. The rebels responded and even managed to inflict damage on the emperor's squadron, but then someone noticed that the Kotetsu's cannons, and above all the one in the bow, were longer than the guns of the coastal batteries. On 13 May, the commander of the rebel ground forces was killed by a stray bullet during a battle on the shore, and literally the next day a bomb from "Kotetsu" blew up the powder magazine of the Benten battery. The approaches to the city were open, so either on May 17 or May 18 (different sources give different dates) the rebels surrendered. As a result, the republic in Japan lasted only six months and never recovered again.
The naval and land battle of Hakodate between the imperial forces and the traditionalist rebel forces. Japanese uki-yo engraving.
The French instructors were sent home, but soon invited back - why not ?! Their second mission arrived in 1872 (after the defeat in the war with Prussia, when many officers were out of work, and they had to go somewhere). And they rendered substantial assistance to Japan. For example, under the leadership of engineer Emile Bertin, it was the French who built their first steam armored fleet for the Japanese, and it was only then that they switched to building ships in England.
Well, and "Kotetsu" in 1871 was renamed "Azuma" ("East") in honor of the clan, which by that time had rendered great services to the imperial fleet. After all, the reforms in the country did not go as smoothly as the reformers wanted, and it was necessary to somehow reward the loyal clans and loyal people. In 1877, for example, the Satsuma uprising broke out by Saigo Takamori. But it was suppressed, but "Azuma" in the fleet continued to sail until 1888, and then for many more years it was used as a floating warehouse and landing stage. In the 1870s, future admirals and vice admirals such as Ito Sukeyuki, Inue Yoshika, Kozo Tsuboi, Tate Kurooka and Tsunoba Hidematsu served on it. During her career under the French, Danish, Swedish, Confederate flags, American and Japanese flags, this ship sailed across the seas almost half the world, setting a kind of record of its time for ships of its class. But this is the history of the ship. But what about the people associated with him? Oh, their fates are also very interesting and instructive in their own way!
The battleship Azuma is the former Stonewall.
For example, the victors did not execute or punish the admiral of the rebellious fleet Enomoto Takeaki, but offered him to become an admiral of the Japanese imperial fleet, and then a naval minister. And he, of course, agreed, but he naturally forgot about his oath of allegiance to the Ezo Republic. He raised his flag on the beauty and pride of the Japanese navy - the battleship "Azuma" - an old ship he knew well with a new name. Once upon a time he really wanted to capture it. Now he hit him without firing a shot, except for the blank volleys of a solemn salute in his honor. Takeaki died in 1908. And in the same year, the coast guard ship "Azuma" was scrapped - the story of "Cheops - Stonewall" was over!
As for Stonewall captain Thomas Jefferson Page, he left for Argentina with his two sons, Philip Nelson and Frederick. There in 1852 - 1856. he directed the hydrographic exploration of the Argentine rivers Paraguay, Bermejo and Teuco and made many friends here, including two presidents: General Urquizu and Bartolome Mitra. First, he raised sheep on the lands that his presidential friends gave him, and then again entered the service in the Argentine navy, strengthened the country's coastal defenses, created the first destroyers, was the official representative of the Argentine fleet in England, France and Italy, where he observed for the construction of battleships commissioned by the Argentine government. He died in Rome in 1902 at the age of 94. His son managed to become a captain, and his grandson became an admiral of the Argentine Navy.
The storming of Kaneiji Castle during the Battle of Ueno. Painting in the uki-yo style.
Another Stonewall captain, Hunter Davidson, also left for Argentina and became the first destroyer commander there. He explored rivers, participated in the laying of an underwater telegraph cable and was awarded the title of honorary member of the Argentine Maritime Center. He died on February 16, 1913 when he was 86 years old.
Niagara Captain Thomas Tingjay Craven was sentenced to two years in prison by a court-martial for failure to do his duty, that is, for not attacking the Stonewall while crossing by sea, but the case was canceled by the command of the fleet, which admitted his caution justified. Whether he should have attacked or not - then it was argued about it in the newspapers and in the saloons, but no one doubted that Craven was a brave man, and his indecision was most likely due to his sentimentality, and by no means cowardice. Well, he could not shoot at Page's ship, with which he chased pirates on board the Erie back in 1828. Therefore, it is not surprising that this whole story with "Stonewall" did not interfere with his receipt of the admiral's rank in 1866. Craven died on August 23, 1887 at the age of 79 years.
But James Bulloch was not forgiven; he spent the rest of his days in England, where, as before, he traded in cotton. For almost ten years, the litigation between England and the United States for compensation for damage caused by privateers of southerners lasted until, in 1872, the international arbitration court ordered the British to compensate the Americans for part of the damage from the actions of Balloch's pets - "Alabama", "Florida", "Shenandoah" and a number of other privateer ships. It is clear that if Stonewall fell into the hands of the Confederates a little earlier, the French would not have paid for its actions at sea. He died of cancer and acute heart failure on January 7, 1901 in Liverpool at the age of 77.
The first and last Japanese president, Takeaki Yenomoto from the Tokutawa clan, was accused of high treason, so he spent five years behind bars, until 1872. But then he was forgiven and in 1874 sent to Russia to negotiate borders. The following year, it was he who signed the St. Petersburg Treaty, according to which Japan renounced its claims to Sakhalin Island in exchange for … all the Kuril Islands up to the coast of Kamchatka. He made a successful career: he was vice admiral, then minister of the sea, became the first Japanese minister of communications and communications, then minister of agriculture and trade, and minister of education, and even minister of foreign affairs. Enomoto died in 1908 at the age of 72.
The fifteenth and final shogun, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, was released in exchange for refusing to participate in public affairs. He lived in solitude, was engaged in photography, so in 1902, for his loyalty to his person, the emperor even returned him his princely title. Yoshinobu passed away on November 22, 1913 at the age of 75, only slightly outliving the emperor.
The grave of the rebellious Saigo Takamori and part of his fighting associates in Kagoshima, Japan. Postcard, approx. 1910.
As for Mutsuhito Meiji, the 122nd Japanese emperor, the power in the country from the Tokugawa clan passed not to him, but to the Daimyo clan, since he himself was then still too young and needed … "gray cardinals." During his reign, the modernization of the country was completed, which ensured the victories of Japan in the Japanese-Chinese (1894-1895) and Russian-Japanese (1904-1905) wars. Then for the first time "Japs" and "macaques", as they were contemptuously called in Russia, defeated a European nation and what a nation of the "third Rome"! Although there was no particular merit of the emperor. Surprisingly, Mutsuhito was a pacifist, a gentle and kind person, although his subjects had no idea about this, since the life of the emperor for ordinary Japanese remained a secret behind seven seals. In 1910, an attempt was made on his life, which was organized by the anarchists. But they shouldn't have been in such a hurry, but had to wait a little: after all, Mutsuhito died just two years later - on July 30, 1912, at the age of 60.
The Frenchman Jules Brunet surrendered to the imperial authorities, and as a punishment … he was sent home, where he was forced to serve a term for desertion, though not very long. But in the Franco-Prussian war of 1871, he distinguished himself, then was captured by the Prussians, but was freed from the fortress along with other officers to fight the Paris Commune. He fought against the Communards along with the Versaillese, and … in the end he made a good career, getting the post of Chief of the General Staff.
Another Frenchman, Brunet's colleague, Eugene Collache, also became a prisoner, but the Japanese sentenced him to death. He was sentenced … but not executed, and he was also sent back to France, where he was also convicted of desertion. During the war of 1871 he fought in the French army. He wrote the book "Adventure in Japan in 1868-1869", which was published in 1874. The same fate befell in Japan and Henri Nicolas, deported to France and convicted of desertion by a French court. He was released in connection with the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war of 1871. Like the rest of the heroes of our drama, he joined the army as a volunteer, but he was unlucky: avoiding death in a foreign land, he died for his country.
As for the commander-in-chief of the troops of the republic, Ezo and the shogun Otori Keisuke, he also surrendered, imprisoned for treason to the emperor, but was amnestied already in 1872, after which he became a politician and a member of the new government. Supervised the Higher Engineering School and the Gakusuin School for the children of the Japanese nobility. Since 1889 - Ambassador to China and Korea, and one of the initiators of the Japanese-Chinese War of 1895. That was how they all had … karma!
