Shinsengumi

Shinsengumi
新選組
Flag of Shinsengumi
Active	August 18, 1863 (August 18, 1863)
Disbanded	June 23, 1869 (June 23, 1869)
Country	Kyoto, Japan
Allegiance	Tokugawa bakufu
Branch	Rōshigumi (disbanded in 1863) Bakufu Army
Type	Military unit
Role	To protect the Tokugawa bakufu representatives and Kyoto
Size	302
Colors	light blue, white
Engagements	Ikedaya incident Kinmon incident Zenzaiya incident Akebonotei incident Sanjo Seisatsu incident Aburanokōji incident Tenmaya incident Boshin War Battle of Toba–Fushimi Battle of Kōshū-Katsunuma Battle of Utsunomiya Castle Battle of Shirakawa Battle of Bonari Pass Battle of Aizu Battle of Miyako Bay Battle of Futamata Battle of Hakodate
Commanders
Notable commanders	Serizawa Kamo (1863) Kondō Isami (1863–1868) Tonouchi Yoshio (1863) Hijikata Toshizō (1868–1869) Saitō Hajime (1868) Sōma Kazue (1869)

The Shinsengumi (新選組, "Newly Selected Corps") was a small, elite group of swordsmen that was organized by commoners and low rank samurai, commissioned by the bakufu (military government) during Japan's Bakumatsu period (late Tokugawa shogunate) in 1863. It was active until 1869.^[1][2] It was founded to protect the shogunate representatives in Kyoto at a time when a controversial imperial edict to exclude foreign trade from Japan had been made and the Chōshū clan had been forced from the imperial court. They gained considerable fame in the Ikedaya incident and the August 18 coup events, among others.^[2] The men were drawn from the sword schools of Edo.