Siege of Ueda

The Siege of Ueda was staged in 1600 by Tokugawa Hidetada, son of the warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu, against Ueda castle garrison in Shinano province, which was controlled by the Sanada family.

Siege of Ueda
Part of the Sengoku period
Date 1600 Location Ueda Castle, Shinano province, Japan Result Siege abandoned; Sanada garrison victory
Belligerents
Forces of Tokugawa clan	Forces of Sanada clan
Commanders and leaders
Tokugawa Hidetada Honda Masanobu Sengoku Hidehisa	Sanada Masayuki Sanada Yukimura
Strength
38,000	2,000

Hidetada came across the castle as he marched his army along the Nakasendō (central mountain road) from Edo to rendezvous with his father's forces. Sanada Masayuki resisted, and Sanada Yukimura, son of Masayuki, was able to fight Hidetada's 38,000 men with only 2,000. However, when the castle did not fall as quickly as Hidetada had hoped and expected, he gave up and abandoned the siege and hurried to meet up with his father. As a result of this delay, Hidetada missed the battle of Sekigahara, the decisive victory in his father's unification of Japan.

References

• Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.