A maritime refusal supplied the immediate foundation of the Ezo Republic. The former shogunate navy's vice commander departed in August 1868 with four warships and four steam transports instead of handing the fleet to the new government. About 2,000 sailors travelled with specialist soldiers, officials of the former bakufu government, and members of the French military mission. Ships therefore supplied both the mobility and the institutional nucleus for continued resistance on Hokkaido. That maritime dependence explains why suppressing Ezo required a naval and amphibious campaign.
Notable Point · 30:10-31:04
A fleet refusal creates the Ezo Republic
The shogunate navy's vice commander refused to surrender his ships and carried the people and matériel needed to found a rival state on Hokkaido.