Sakuma Nobumori

Sakuma Nobumori (佐久間 信盛, also Dewa no Suke (出羽介) and Uemon no Jo (右衛門尉)^?, 1528 – February 18, 1582) was a retainer for the Oda clan.

Born in what is now Minami-ku, Nagoya (situated in contemporary Aichi District, Owari Province) and serving under Oda Nobuhide, Sakuma was entrusted with the care of the young Oda Nobunaga. Unlike other retainers whose support wavered between Nobunaga and Oda Nobuyuki as clan leader, Sakuma remained steadfastly loyal to Nobunaga, and fought for him consistently.

He was thus treated as Nobunaga's most important retainer and would come to fight in every important battle under Nobunaga's command such as the 1571 and 1573 Siege of Nagashima.

Sakuma was called Noki Sakuma (退き佐久間), which literally means "retreating Sakuma," because of his cautious tactics. He was successful in the campaign against the Rokkaku clan and helped to suppress rebellions caused by Buddhist sects in Echizen Province and at Nagashima in Osaka.

In 1572, his 3,000-man unit formed part of the reinforcements dispatched by Nobunaga to aid Tokugawa Ieyasu's approximately 8,000 soldiers against the 30,000 led by Takeda Shingen. In the Battle of Mikatagahara Sakuma retreated after a preliminary engagement. His fellow commander Hirate Hirohide, however, who fought alongside the Tokugawa troops, lost his life, and the conflict ended with a crushing defeat of the Tokugawa-Oda alliance.

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