Significant number of men were purged on such grounds as violating internal rules, etc., and according to one view, more men lost their lives through such purges than through fighting with Imperial loyalists.
内規に反した等として粛清された者は相当数にのぼり、一説には勤皇志士との斬りあいで死亡した者より、粛清で落命した者の方が多いともいう。