The was a special police force created by the Tokugawa shogunate during the late Bakumatsu period to restore public order to Kyoto. History In the unsettled period after to ending of the national isolation policy, the political situation in Japan became increasingly chaotic. Anti-government and anti-foreign rōnin congregated on the old imperial capital of Kyoto, and many of the daimyōs from the western feudal domains also established residences in Kyoto in an attempt to exert influence on the Imperial Court to pressure the shogunate towards the sonnō jōi movement ("Revere the Emperor, Expel the Barbarians") against the foreign powers. Establishment In 1864, the Kyoto Shugoshoku Matsudaira Katamori authorized the establishment of a militia of approximately 200 samurai formed into two companies under the command of Maita Hirotaka and Matsudaira Yasutada to restore public order to Kyoto. The two companies took their names from the courtesy titles of their commanders: the Sagami-no-kami-gumi and the Izumo-no-kami-gumi. The headquarters for the force was Nijō Castle in Kyoto. The purpose of the Mimawarigumi was very similar to that of much more famous Shinsengumi. The Mimawarigumi was composed entirely of higher-ranking samurai and sons of hatamoto-class retainers, all of whom were direct retainers to the Tokugawa Shogunate, predominantly through the Hoshina-Matsudaira clan of the Aizu domain, as opposed to the rōnin-based Shinsengumi. Indicative of this difference in status, the Mimawarigumi was assigned primarily to protect the Kyoto Imperial Palace and area around Nijo Castle, whereas the Shinsengumi was assigned to the Gion entertainment district and areas of the commoners and shopkeepers. Boshin War On January 1868, the Mimawarigumi moved to Osaka and stationed at Honkakuji Temple. On January 8, 1868, the Mimawarigumi was renamed to Shin Yūgekitai (新遊撃隊), but later on January 19, only to rename back to Mimawarigumi. In the Battle of Toba-Fushimi of the Boshin War, they engaged with the Satsuma Domain forces at the Toba Highway. However they were not equipped with firearms, struggled and retreated with other Shogunate forces. Later, They engaged in a battle near Hashimoto. However during the battle, Sasaki Tadasaburō, who was the leader of the unit, was fatally injured and died a few days later. The Mimawarigumi retreated back to Osaka to regroup with other Shogunate forces by January 31, 1868. Disbandment However in the evening, Tokugawa Yoshinobu, accompanied by the daimyōs of Aizu and Kuwana, slipped away from Osaka Castle and headed to Edo. When the