During the civil wars, Shojiro GOTO and Munemitsu MUTSU approached Taisuke ITAGAKI and Takayoshi KIDO with a proposal to organize and command a voluntary army consisting of ex-Tosa domain retainers to suppress Takamori SAIGO and for a while it was the policy of the Meiji Government but was revoked on April 15.
後藤象二郎と陸奥宗光が戦争中に板垣あるいは木戸孝允を司令官とした旧土佐藩を中心とした西郷隆盛討伐の義勇軍を持ちかけて一旦は明治政府の方針とされた（4月15日に中止）。