However, some officers, natives of Kagoshima Prefecture had little will to fight: A certain army officer who watched the battle at the Ichisegawa river remarked that "it was not officers, but noncommissioned officers who were fighting".
しかし、将校の地位を占めた鹿児島県出身者には戦意が乏しく、8月2日の一瀬川の戦いを観戦したある官軍将校は、屯田部隊で「戦争をしているのは下士兵卒で将校ではない」と評したという。