, also called Honda Heihachirō (本多 平八郎) was a Japanese samurai, general, and daimyo of the late Sengoku through early Edo periods, who served Tokugawa Ieyasu.
Honda Tadakatsu was one of the Tokugawa Four Heavenly Kings (Shitennō) along with Ii Naomasa, Sakakibara Yasumasa, and Sakai Tadatsugu. It was reported that he never suffered a single wound despite participating in a total of 57 military campaigns throughout his life.
For his fighting prowess on the battlefield Honda Tadakatsu earned the praise of various contemporary figures such as Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu himself.
Biography
Tadakatsu was born in 1548, in Kuramae, Nukata, Mikawa Province (present-day Nishi-Kuramae, Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture), the eldest son of Honda Tadataka. The Honda clan was one of the oldest Anjō fudai families, a family of fudai daimyo who had been serving Tokugawa Ieyasu since he was in Anjō.
In 1560, Tadakatsu participated his first battle in the battle of Washizu Fort, where he accompanied his father. Later, he also participated in Ieyasu's campaign during the siege of Ōdaka Castle which occurred before the Battle of Okehazama.
In 1561, It was said that when he was aged just 14 years old, Tadakatsu recorded his first kill in battle. At first his uncle, Honda Tadazane, killed an enemy samurai and asked Tadakatsu to cut off the corpse head as trophy for Tadakatsu. However, Tadakatsu stated that he did not want to rely on others to achieve military merit. Tadakatsu followed suit by charging towards the enemy rank and made his own trophy by killing an enemy by his own hand.
Tadakatsu, who became the head of the core branch of Honda clan, was at first a follower of Jōdo Shinshū (True pure land Buddhism). However, as radical sectarian rebels of Ikkō-ikki which following Jōdo Shinshū broke out, Tadakatsu abandoned Jōdo Shinshū and changing his faith to Jōdo-shū(pure land Buddhism), as he stayed loyal to Ieyasu. Tadakatsu joined Ina Tadatsugu, Sakai Tadatsugu, Mizuno Sanzaemon, Torii Mototada, Ōkubo Tadakatsu, and Ishikawa Tadanari to support Ieyasu in suppression of Ikkō-ikki.
Around 1561-1563, The Ietada nikki journal has stated at some point of this rebellion, 200 Tokugawa soldiers led by Tadakatsu and Ishikawa Ienari were ambushed and routed by Ikkō-ikki rebels led by Sakai Tadanao.
In June 1564, Tadakatsu competes with Hachiya Sadatsugu to be appointed as vanguard commander to attack Yoshida Castle. In the end, Tadakatsu were chosen to lead the troops and they managed to defeat the garrison and forcing the castle to surrender. However, Sadatsugu was killed during the battle by the enemy commander Masanori Kawai. In 1566, at the age of 19, Tadakatsu was promoted Hatamoto and was given command of 54 cavalry soldiers.
Campaign against Asakura-Azai alliance in 1570, Tadakatsu gained distinction at the Battle of Anegawa against Azai and Asakura clans along with Tokugawa's ally, Oda Nobunaga. In this battle, Tadakatsu was placed in the left flank along with Ōkubo Tadayo. It was recorded that at the beginning of this battle, as the Tokugawa army steadily pushed back by the Asakura army, Tadakatsu suddenly rode his horse charging alone against the approaching 10,000-strong Asakura army. Seeing this, the panicked Ieyasu immediately leading his forces to counter the advance of Asakura and to save Tadakatsu, which in the end they manage to defeat the Asakura army. Tadakatsu survived the battle despite the grave danger he faced.
There is also a report of single combat between Honda Tadakatsu against a giant Asakura warrior named Magara Naotaka or also known as Magara Jurozaemon. However, The duel was cut short as during their duel, the Asakura army started to retreat.
After the Tokugawa forces finished dealing with Asakura forces, they immediately dispatched Yasumasa and Honda Tadakatsu troops to assist Oda Nobunaga who were struggling against the Azai army. As Yasumasa and Tadakatsu struck the right flank of Azai Nagamasa's formation in subsequent with Inaba Yoshimichi slammed into Nagamasa's left flank, they finally managed to overcame the Azai army.
Campaign against Takeda clan
In 1572, during the Takeda clan campaign in Mikawa, Tadakatsu participated in the forces of Tokugawa. Ieyasu sent him, Naitō Nobunari, and Ōkubo Tadasuke, to lead the vanguard, where they meet Takeda forces led by Yamagata Masakage and Baba Nobuharu at the battle of Hitokotosaka. It is said that in this battle Tadakatsu gained recognition from the enemy forces for his antler helmet and his Tonbo-giri spear for his exploit in staving off the charges of Baba Nobuharu’s units. In the end of this battle, Tadakatsu and Naitō Nobunari fought well, as both of them managed to break through from the encirclement attempts by Takeda forces and managed to lead the Tokugawa forces to escape safely.
In 1573, Tadakatsu also served at Tokugawa's greatest defeat, the Battle of Mikatagahara, where he commanded the left wing of his master's army, facing off against troops under one of the Takeda clan's more notable generals, Naitō Masatoyo. In the prelude of the battle, Tadakatsu managed to ward off the first wave, however, the Tokugawa forces were getting overrun by the next waves of Takeda forces. In the last phase of the battle, Tadakatsu reportedly fought alongside Sakakibara Yasumasa engaging a Takeda clan general named Oyamada Masayuki, while Ishikawa Kazumasa was busy covering the retreat of Ieyasu from the battle. In the end, the Tokugawa forces managed to withdraw safely from the battle due to the dexterous performance of Tadakatsu in organizing the cover of their retreat.
Later in the same year, Tadakatsu and Sakakibara Yasumasa were tasked to capture Nagashino Castle. Both of them managed to defeat the Takeda clan armies which guarded the castle and completed their mission to capture it. Aside from that, Tadakatsu also captured many other castles in Tōtōmi Province from Takeda clan.
In 1575, during the conflict between the Oda-Tokugawa alliance against Takeda Katsuyori, heir of Shingen, when the latter invaded Enshū province, Tadakatsu and Sakakibara fought under the Tokugawa forces against Katsuyori, where they captured Komyo castle in June. Later in the same month, Tadakatsu was one of the Tokugawa generals present at the Battle of Nagashino in 1575. Honda commanded a rank of musketeers as the combined Oda-Tokugawa forces annihilated Takeda Katsuyori's army, due to the skillful use of ranked muskets, as they fired in cycling volleys. In this battle, units under Tadakatsu were facing against Yamagata Masakage, who was killed on his track by a shot from Tadakatsu's musketeers. At some point in this battle, 1,500 Takeda soldiers under Naitō Masatoyo managed to break through with 24 men able to climb the third fence to the defensive position of the Oda-Tokugawa forces. Masatoyo was said to almost reach Ieyasu's main camp, until Tadakatsu, Sakakibara Yasumasa, and Osuga Yasutaka came in to block his way. One source recorded that Tadakatsu took his spear and personally engaged Masatoyo's soldiers on the frontline, preventing them from encroaching further. Tadakatsu fought hard until the Masatoyo's corps were annihilated, while Masatoyo himself was captured. The Kansei Chōshū Shokafu chronicle has recorded that in the final phase of the battle, Tadakatsu fought ferociously until the Takeda forces were routed, while a retainer of Honda clan named Kaji Masamichi managed to take the heads of Yamagata Masakage and Baba Nobuharu as a prize. Immediately after the Nagashino battle, Tadakatsu and Sakakibara Yasumasa attacked and captured the Suwahara Castle.
In 1581, Tadakatsu participated in the Tokugawa army attack on Tanaka Castle which was guarded by a Takeda clan general named Ichijō Nobutatsu. In this battle, Tadakatsu fought together with Matsudaira Ietada, Sakakibara Yasumasa, and Ii Naomasa as they all climbed the Tanaka castle wall engaging Nobutatsu's soldiers. Later during the Siege of Takatenjin, Tokugawa forces under Tadakatsu and others stormed the castle and managed to kill a Takeda general named Okabe Motonobu. Later in the same year, Tadakatsu also defeated the army of Takeda Nobukado.
Later, in March of same year, According to Meishō genkō-roku record, After the death of Takeda Katsuyori at the Battle of Tenmokuzan in 1582 and subjugated the Takeda clan territories, Ieyasu organized a kishōmon (blood oath) with many samurai clans that formerly was a vassal of Takeda clan to be assigned under the command of Tokugawa clan retainers.小宮山敏和「戦国大名家臣の徳川家臣化について 戦国大名武田家家臣を事例として」『論集きんせい』26号、2004年 Among those who has assigned the commands of the former Takeda samurai was Honda Tadakatsu, who received a command over 60 members of Asari clan led by Asari Masatane.
After Nobunaga's death In 1582, after the Honnō-ji Incident, Tadakatsu accompanied Ieyasu in an arduous journey to escape the enemies of Nobunaga in Sakai and returning to Mikawa. However, their journey were very dangerous due to the existence of "Ochimusha-gari" groups across the route. During this journey, Tadakatsu and other senior Ieyasu retainers such as Sakai Tadatsugu and Ii Naomasa fought their way out against the raids and harassments from Ochimusha-gari outlaws (Samurai hunters) during their march escorting Ieyasu, while sometimes also paying bribes of gold and silver to the Ochimusha-gari gangs which they could bribe. Arthur Lindsay Sadler said that Tadakatsu was "repelling the bandits" often during this journey. As they reached Kada, an area between Kameyama town and Iga, the attacks from Ochimusha-gari finally ended as they reached the territory of Kōka ikki clans of Jizamurai who were friendly to the Tokugawa clan. The Koka ikki samurai were helping them killing members of the Ochimusha-gari and then escorting them until they reached Iga Province, where they were further protected by samurai clans from Iga ikki which accompany the Ieyasu group until they safely reached Mikawa. The Ietada nikki journal has recorded that the escorts of Ieyasu has suffered around 200 casualties and only 34 person left when they finally arrived at Ietada residence in Mikawa.
In 1584, Tadakatsu participated in the Komaki Campaign of Tokugawa against Toyotomi Hideyoshi. During this conflict, Tadakatsu entered negotiation with the Akai clan, a samurai clan from Tanba Province, which led by Ashida Tokinao, younger brother of Akai Naomasa, as Tokinao aspired for the revival of the Akai clan by contributing with Tokugawa clan. Tokinao then raised an army in Tanba on Ieyasu's side. As Tadakatsu was stationed Komaki while Ieyasu departed to engage Toyotomi troops at Nagakute, Tadakatsu observed a huge host under Hideyoshi himself move out in pursuit. With a handful of men, Tadakatsu rode out and challenged the Toyotomi army from the opposite bank of the Shōnai River. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was said to have been impressed by Tadakatsu and commanded his army to not attack the small units of Tadakatsu. After the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute, the front line in northern Owari reached stalemate. Ieyasu and Oda Nobukatsu led 20,000 soldiers and besieged three castles: Kanie Castle, Maeda Castle, and Shimoichiba Castle. The Kanie castle were defended by Maeda Nagatane and Takigawa Kazumasu. Tadatsugu, Okanabe Mori, and Yamaguchi Shigemasa spearheading the attack towards Shimoichiba castle. On June 22, Nobukatsu and Ieyasu launch an all-out attack on Kanie Castle. The soldiers led by Tadatsugu, While Tadakatsu, Ishikawa Kazumasa, Ii Naomasa, Sakakibara Yasumasa, and Matsudaira Ietada deployed in reserve before entering the battle with Ieyasu himself. On June 23, Ieyasu entered the castle with Sakakibara Yasumasa, thus the castle were subdued.
Famed Four Tokugawa's Guardians under Toyotomi Regency