Comments by "" (@RedXlV) on "IJN Kotetsu / CSS Stonewall - Guide 256" video.

While the samurai that Kotetsu fought against at Hakodate Bay were Tokugawa loyalists, at this point the Shogunate was already over and they didn't see themselves as rebelling against the Emperor. Hokkaido (known as Ezo at the time) wasn't really considered part of Japan yet. They wanted to make it part of Japan (which happened), and have the Tokugawa clan rule it so that their now-unemployed retainers would have jobs again (which the Meiji government rejected). It's actually kind of odd that this proposal wasn't accepted, yet appointing Tokugawa Iesato as a prince and making him Japan's chief diplomat to Europe was fine.
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