Kobayakawa Hideaki
Kobayakawa Hideaki (小早川秀秋,
1582–
December 1,
1602) was fifth son of
Kinoshita Iesada and the nephew of
Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
He was adopted by Hideyoshi and called himself
Hashiba Hidetoshi(羽柴秀俊) and
Shusen(秀"). He was then again adopted by
Kobayakawa Takakage and renamed himself to
Hideaki. Because he gained the rank of
Saemon no Toku(左衛門督) or in China
Shikkingo(執金吾) at
genpuku and held the title of
Chunagon(中納言), Hideaki was also called
Kingo Chunagon(金吾中納言).
During
Battle of Keicho, he led the reinforcement to rescue Ulsan Castle from Ming army. Fighting in the frontline with a spear, he managed to capture an enemy commander and successfully breached the siege. However, Hideyoshi saw the danger of a reckless charge by the general commanding an army and deprived him of his domain,
Chikugo after returning. Hideaki angered by having his domain taken away, believed the lie circulated by
Tokugawa Ieyasu that this had been
Ishida Mitsunari's doing from jealousy. He never forgot or forgave Mitsunari and would work to undermine his position.
Before the
battle of Sekigahara, Hideaki happened to be in
Osaka and acted as though he would go along with Mitsunari even though he had intended to betray him having secretly communicated with Ieyasu for an eventual betrayal. Cautious for knowing Hideaki held ill feelings, Mitsunari and
Otani Yoshitsugu offered Hideaki the position of
kampaku until
Toyotomi Hideyori grow old enough to rule himself and two additional domains around Osaka upon the victory. On the day of the battle, Ieyasu's force did not fare well with
Ukita Hideie winning against
Fukushima Masanori, Otani Yoshitsugu also winning against
Todo Takatora. Hideaki did not move and agitated and desperate Ieyasu ordered troops to fire blanks against Hideaki troop to force a betrayal. Hideaki then ordered attack into Otani troop and while this attack was beaten back temporalily, rest of samurai who promised betrayal turned and attacked and the battle was over in a day with Mitsunari's force being wiped out.
Afterward, he also had a success in the
siege of Sawayama held by Mitsunari's father
Ishida Masatsugu and gained
Bizen and
Mimasaka for a total of 550,000
koku. However, Hideaki suddenly died two years later after supposedly going mad, and with no one to succeed him, the
Kobayakawa clan disbanded.
*
samurai-archives.com - page on Kobayakawa Hideaki; contains information on the Battle of Sekigahara as well
*
City of Okayama
