Meet Frenchman Jules Brunet, the real-life last samurai. Fighting alongside the Shogunate rebels who wanted to maintain traditionalism in Japan, Brunet joined a legion of 3,000 in a battle against 7,000 Imperial troops that lasted half a year in 1868 and 1869. Ultimately, the clash ended with the defeat of the samurai, largely because they did not use Western weaponry the way the Imperial troops did.
[allthatsinteresting.com]
Thank you, that was very interesting. I had read a bit about the conflict after watching The Last Samurai, which I watched because I'm a Japanophile and Ken Watanabe fan. Perhaps because Tom Cruise annoys me, I hadn't read as much about his character's history.