Towards the end of February when it was still uncertain which side would win the war, the national government sent Gikan (councilor of Chamber of Elders or Senate) Sakimitsu YANAGIWARA as an Imperial messenger to Hisamitsu SHIMAZU, who was called the father of his country in the former fief, to win the general public in Kagoshima over to the government side in attacking the base of the Satsuma army.
まだ戦争の帰趨が覚束なかった2月末、政府は鹿児島の人心を収攬し、薩軍の本拠地を衝くために旧藩の国父であった島津久光に議官柳原前光を勅使として派遣した。