Upon reaching the domain seat of Wakamatsu, Ōtori's men mounted a fighting retreat while defending the western approaches to Aizu. In his search for reinforcements, Ōtori unsuccessfully petitioned Matsudaira Katamori to gather peasants from the surrounding villages and, although continuing to remain in the vicinity of Wakamatsu for some time, was eventually forced to retreat in the face of an advance from the Imperial Army, making his way to Sendai. There he met with Enomoto Takeaki, who had arrived in Matsushima Bay with six warships of the former Shogunate. Boarding these ships, the force headed for Hakodate, Hokkaidō.
