In order to deal with an imminent threat from the 'expeditionary force to the east' as it approached Edo, Yoshinobu selected Tesshu YAMAOKA, the chief of Seieitai (an elite army force on the bakufu side) and a brother in law to Deishu TAKAHASHI; he was guarding Yoshinobu TOKUGAWA as his envoy, while Yoshinobu confined himself in Kanei-ji Temple.
差し迫る東征軍に対し、寛永寺で謹慎中の徳川慶喜を護衛していた高橋泥舟の義弟で精鋭隊頭の山岡鉄舟。