8th and 29th of August, 1864.
The attack was made from the 5th to the 8th of September. The daimyo,
finding it useless to contend against such overwhelming odds, gave in his
absolute submission.

After the return of the expedition the representatives of the allied
powers held a conference with the Japanese ministers of foreign affairs
with reference to the final settlement of this unfortunate business. A
convention(294) was entered into between the interested parties, dated the
22d of October, 1864, by which an indemnity of three million dollars was
to be paid by Japan to the four powers for damages and for expenses
entailed by the operations against the daimyo of Choshu. This sum was to
be paid in instalments of half a million dollars each. The four powers
agreed among themselves as to the division of this indemnity: That France,
the Netherlands, and the United States, in consideration of the actual
attacks made on their shipping, were to receive each one hundred and forty
thousand dollars, and that the remaining sum should be divided equally
between the four powers.

It has always been felt that the exaction of this large indemnity was a
harsh if not an unwarrantable proceeding. The government of Yedo had
disavowed and apologized for the conduct of the rebellious daimyo, and
promised, if time were allowed, to reduce him to subjection. Of the powers
which were allied in the expedition, Great Britain had suffered no damage,
and the United States had already received an indemnity for the injuries
and expenses of the vessel fired upon. To insist, therefore, upon the
government not only paying for the damage inflicted, but for the expense
of an unnecessarily large and costly expedition to suppress the rebellious
subordinate, which was sent contrary to the express protest of the
responsible government, seems too much like that overbearing diplomacy
with which western nations have conducted their intercourse in the
East.(295) The promised sum, however, was at last, after much financial
distress, all paid, and the painful episode was ended.

One undesigned benefit resulted from the Shimonoseki expedition. Just as
the bombardment of Kagoshima had taught the daimyo of Satsuma the folly of
resisting western armaments, so now the daimyo of Choshu had learned by an
expensive experience the same bitter lesson. For the future these two
powerful clans might therefore be counted on, not only to oppose the
moribund government of Yedo