He was born at Yonezawa in Dewa, a son of Katakura Kageshige, a Hachiman shrine priest. He was known as Kojuro. His elder half-sister Kita, a woman skilled in learning and arms, later became Date Masamune's nurse and is said to have been closely tied to Kagetsuna's rise.
Trusted by Date Terumune, he was made tutor to his heir Bontenmaru, later Masamune. Masamune had lost the sight of his right eye to a childhood illness and is said to have grown withdrawn. A tale says Kagetsuna removed the eye, but it is not a reliable record.
When Masamune succeeded to the Date house at 17, Kagetsuna advised him on politics and war as his close aide. About ten years older, he restrained and supported his fiery young lord. The trust between them deepened from here.
After Terumune's death, an allied army of the Satake, Ashina and others attacked, and the Date fought a desperate battle at Hitotoribashi. Masamune is said to have survived the crisis thanks to the fierce fighting of Kagetsuna and others. It was one of the young lord's greatest trials.
The Date fought the Ashina of Aizu at Suriagehara at the foot of Mount Bandai and won a great victory. Masamune entered Kurokawa Castle, later Aizu-Wakamatsu, and the Date became a great power holding most of southern Oshu. Kagetsuna led a key wing of the army.
The Date house was divided over joining Toyotomi Hideyoshi's siege of the Hojo at Odawara. Kagetsuna is said to have argued that, given the tide of the realm, they must follow Hideyoshi. Masamune came late; Aizu was taken away, but the house survived.
Masamune was suspected of inciting the Kasai-Osaki uprising, and the Date domain was moved on a large scale. Masamune cleared himself before Hideyoshi. Kagetsuna was entrusted with guarding the new domain and helped rebuild the Date house.
In Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea, the Bunroku campaign, he crossed to the peninsula with Masamune. The Date force is said to have astonished Kyoto with its splendid dress. After hard fighting on a distant front, Kagetsuna returned home with Masamune.
At the time of Sekigahara the Date fought Uesugi Kagekatsu on the Tokugawa side, and Kagetsuna joined the attack that took the Uesugi castle of Shiroishi. The fighting in the north showed the Date loyalty to Tokugawa Ieyasu.
He was entrusted with Shiroishi Castle and became its lord. Shiroishi guarded Sendai's southern approach, and its castle was kept as an exception even under the later one-castle-per-province edict. The Katakura held Shiroishi for generations, supporting the Sendai domain.
At the Osaka winter campaign Kagetsuna was too ill to take the field, and his son Shigenaga fought in the Date army. In the summer campaign the next year Shigenaga is said to have distinguished himself and won fame. Kagetsuna entrusted his son with the house and service to their lord.
In the year the Osaka campaigns ended and the Toyotomi fell, Kagetsuna died of illness at Shiroishi. Having served as Masamune's adviser for most of his lord's life, he is still remembered as the foremost retainer who upheld the Date house.
Toyotomi HideyoshiTokugawa IeyasuDate MasamuneUesugi Kagekatsu
Gamō UjisatoTōdō TakatoraUesugi KagekatsuOda NobutadaIshida MitsunariNaoe KanetsuguIi NaomasaFukushima Masanori
People of the Sengoku/Azuchi-Momoyama period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.