 Rōshigumi

The Rōshigumi (浪士組, meaning "the rōnin squad"), the "Kyoto Defenders", was a group of 234 masterless samurai ("rōnin"), founded by Kiyokawa Hachirō in 1862.Loyal to the Bakufu, they were supposed to act as the protectors of the Tokugawa "shōgun", but were disbanded upon their arrival in Kyoto, Japan in 1863.