Battle of Tennōji

Setup of Battle of Tennōji. June 3, 1615

The Battle of Tennōji (天王寺・岡山の戦い, Tennōji Okayama no tatakai) was fought in 1615 between the forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu and the forces of Toyotomi Hideyori. Tokugawa was laying siege to Osaka, and Hideyori had planned a counterattack. Both sides were plagued by mistakes until Hideyori's side finally fell. He committed suicide. The Toyotomi army suffered nearly 50% casualties in this battle, with more than 15,000 dead. This was also the final battle of Sanada Yukimura.

Battle

The last resistance of the Osaka Garrison was at Tennoji, outside of the castle. Hideyori, son of the legendary Toyotomi Hideyoshi, made up a plan to try and turn the tide of the siege. Akashi Morishige was to attack the Tokugawa in conjunction with Sanada Yukimura. But the Tokugawa were led by Ieyasu himself, and even though Ieyasu was wounded by a spear thrust, Yukimura was killed in action. Thus, Morishige's attack failed as well. This left only Hideyori to defend the castle. The Tokugawa cannon began pounding the keep, and hopeless, Hideyori committed seppuku.