The scene of the brief contest was now shifted to the east. The ex-shōgun seemed to vacillate between a complete surrender of his power and a provisional retention of it until the will of the nation could be taken by a conference of the daimyōs. On the arrival of the imperial forces in Yedo the final terms of his future treatment were announced to the ex-shōgun: That he retire to Mito, and there live in seclusion; that the castle in Yedo be evacuated; and that the vessels and armaments now in the possession of the ex-shōgun be surrendered. These terms were accepted, and he took up his residence in his ancestral province of Mito. Subsequently he was permitted to remove to the castle of Sumpu at Shizuoka. With him the dynasty of Tokugawa shōguns vanishes from history. His adherents, however, still continued to resist the imperial forces. For months the Aizu troops hovered about Yedo, and at last came to blows with the imperial troops at the grounds of the Uyeno temple on July 4, 1868. It was a hard-fought battle, and was at last decided by an Armstrong gun in the hands of the Hizen troops. The fine old temple was destroyed, and the rebel forces withdrew to the north. Further complications arose—fighting at Utsunomiya, etc.,—but at last they were ended by the surrender of the castle of Wakamatsu, where the daimyō of Aizu had made a stand. With generous fortitude he took the blame upon himself and submitted to the clemency of his sovereign. It is only necessary now in order to bring to a close the account of this short military contest, to refer to the movements of the fleet lying at Shinagawa. It will be remembered that by the terms accepted by the ex-shōgun these vessels were to be surrendered to the imperial forces. There were seven of them, mounting in all eighty-three guns. They were under the command of Enomoto Izumi-no-kami, who had learned in Holland the science of naval war. He did not approve of his master surrendering these muniments of war. On the morning of the day when the vessels were to be delivered over to the imperial commander, they had disappeared from their anchorage. In the night Enomoto had got up steam, crept out through Yedo bay, and sailed northward to more friendly climes. The imperial fleet followed, and after some manœuvring at Sendai proceeded to Hakodate. Here the warlike operations between the rebels and the imperial troops lasted till July, 1869. Finally, the leaders, Enomoto and Matsudaira Tarō, seeing that it was hopeless to contend longer against a constantly increasing enemy, offered to commit _hara-kiri_, in order that their followers might be saved by a surrender. Their unselfish purpose was not, however, permitted. Then it was determined that the two leaders should give themselves up to the besiegers, to save the rest. This was done. The prisoners were sent to Yedo, and their gallant conduct and heroic devotion to the cause of their prince were so keenly appreciated that they were all pardoned.