Battle of Uji (1184)

Minamoto no Yoshinaka tried to wrest power from his cousins Yoritomo and Yoshitsune, seeking to take command of the Clan. To that end, he sacked Kyoto, burned the Hōjūji Palace, kidnapped Emperor Go-Shirakawa and had himself named shogun. However, his cousins caught up with him soon afterwards, following him across the Bridge over the Uji, New Year's Day, 1184, which Yoshinaka had torn up to impair their crossing, in an ironic reversal of the first Battle of the Uji, only four years earlier.Much as the Taira did in that first battle, Minamoto no Yoshitsune led his horsemen across the river, and defeated Yoshinaka, and pursued him away from the capital.