During the Boshin War, Shinpei was appointed as an officer of the army organized to defeat the Tokugawa shogunate and conducted a reconnaissance mission to Edo with Tosa Domain samurai Tadahachi OGASAWARA.
戊辰戦争で江藤は征東大総督府軍監に任命され、土佐藩士の小笠原唯八とともに江戸へ偵察に向かう。