Sakuma Nobumori

Sakuma Nobumori
佐久間 信盛
Lord of Kurita
In office 1571–1580
Personal details
Born	1528 Siege of Ichijodani Castle Battle of Nagashino Siege of Ishiyama-Honganji

Sakuma Nobumori (佐久間 信盛, also Dewa no Suke (出羽介) and Uemon no Jo (右衛門尉), 1528 – February 18, 1582) was a

. He was thus treated as

Early life

Nobumori was head of Sakuma clan, he was born in what is now

in his abortive attempts at rebellion in 1557.

Unlike other retainers whose support Oda Nobunaga as clan leader, Sakuma remained steadfastly loyal to Nobunaga, and fought for him consistently. Sakuma was called Noki Sakuma (退き佐久間) or "Shirizoki Sakuma", which literally means "retreating Sakuma", for his excellence in directing the rear guard.

Military life

In 1554, Nobumori took part in the Battle of Kiyosu Castle against Oda Nobutomo, uncle of Nobunaga.

In 1555, Nobumori took part in the

, younger brother of Nobunaga.

In 1560, he is one of Nobunaga main force at the Battle of Okehazama against Imagawa Yoshimoto.

In 1567, he fought in the

where he was in the reserve division.

In 1570, He was successful attacking Mitsukuri castle in the campaign against the Rokkaku clan and helped to suppress rebellions caused by Buddhist sects in Echizen Province.

In 1571, Nobumori fought against

as chigyo-chi (household territory) in November, 1571.

In 1572, he and Takigawa Kazumasu led 3,000-man unit formed part of the reinforcements dispatched by Nobunaga to aid Tokugawa Ieyasu's approximately 8,000 soldiers against the 30,000 led by Takeda Shingen in the Battle of Mikatagahara, Sakuma retreated after a preliminary engagement. His fellow commander Hirate Hirohide, however, who fought alongside the Tokugawa troops, lost his life, and the conflict ended with a crushing defeat of the Tokugawa-Oda alliance.^{[1]: 222 [2]}

In 1573, he participated in the

.

In 1574, he participated in the

.

In 1575, he participated in the Battle of Nagashino against the Takeda clan.^[3]

In 1576, after

who all won battles on the fronts to which they were assigned, Nobumori made no progress against the fearless Buddhist zealots.

In 1580, after ten years of warring in Ishiyama Hongan-ji War, Nobunaga had the emperor mediate a truce to end the war. That same year, Nobunaga drafted a document containing a nineteen-point accusation against Sakuma's, including past failures with those against the

, where they were forced to spend their days in the monk lifestyle. The man who came to lead the largest force in the Kinki area (Kansai) after Nobumori banishment was .

Death

Nobumori's banishment has widely been regarded as representative of Nobunaga's cold-blooded treatment against even his longest-serving retainers underscoring the clan leader's shortcomings as a military commander.

Nobumori, however, had reportedly held frequent tea parties and seemed more interested in these rather than focusing on military affairs. He never devised, after all, any overarching military measures against the

. He was posthumously named Doumu Keigan (洞無桂巌) and Souyu (宗佑).

Family

• Sakuma Nobuhide (Ja:佐久間信栄): Son

References

[1]

1. ISBN 9781400855971
   . Retrieved 27 October 2017.