Shinsengumi

*Shinsengumi*
Shinsengumi
新選組
	Flag of Shinsengumi
Active	August 18, 1863
Disbanded	June 23, 1869
Country	Kyoto, Japan
Allegiance	Tokugawa bakufu
Branch	Rōshigumi (disbanded in 1863); Bakufu Army;
Type	Security agency
Role	Bodyguard; Clandestine operation; Close order formation; Cordon and search; Counterintelligence; Counter-revolutionary; Covert operation; Criminal investigation; Direct fire; Force protection; Frontal assault; Hand-to-hand combat; HUMINT; Intelligence assessment; Law enforcement; Line formation; Manhunt; Patrolling; Physical security; Political warfare; Public security; Raiding; Rearguard; Reconnaissance; Swordsmanship; To protect the Tokugawa bakufu representatives and Kyoto; Tracking
Size	302
Colors	light blue, white
Engagements	Ikedaya incident; Kinmon incident; Zenzaiya incident; Akebonotei incident; Sanjo Seisatsu incident; Aburanokōji incident; Second Chōshū expedition; 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 secret police organization, an elite group of swordsmen organized by commoners and low-ranking samurai, commissioned by the bakufu (military government) during Japan's Bakumatsu period (late Tokugawa shogunate) in 1863. It was active until 1869. It was founded to protect 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 from events such as the Ikedaya incident and the August 18 coup, among others. The members were drawn from the sword schools of Edo.