 The finances of the domain were further weakened when assigned by the shogunate the task of contributing to security efforts in Kyoto in the 1860s.Sendai Domain was assigned to guard the Shimodachiuri-gomon Gate of the Imperial Palace.With the start of the Boshin War in 1868, Sendai initially remained neutral, and its forces based in Kyoto were not involved in the Battle of Toba–Fushimi.