Iustitian War for Independence

Iustitian War of Independence
Part of the collapse of the Valahandian Empire
Date March 8, 1798 - May 3, 1802 Location Iustitia, southern Khersonsic peninsula Result Formation of Republic of Iustitia Valahandian withdrawal from Iustitia
Belligerents
Kingdom of Valahandia	Iustitian Revolutionaries
Commanders and leaders
King John IV Duke of Celon Gen. William Norton, Count of Reona Gen. Arthur Dering, Count of Ceira	Ross Ashley Donald Walton Steven Brannock
Units involved
23,500	18,000
Casualties and losses
900 killed or wounded 2,000 captured	1,600 killed or wounded 1,270 captured

The Iustitian War for Independence was a major turn-of-the-19th-century conflict between the Kingdom of Valahandia (allied with Iustitian colonial loyalists) and Iustitian republican forces. The culmination of over a century of unrest, republican forces defeated the Valahandians at the Battle of Lera Forest and forced a legal acknowledgement of an independent Iustita on May 3, 1802 after over four years of intense fighting. Following the Valahandian withdrawal from Iustitia, the Provisional Iustitian Government was established to govern the fledgling nation.

Background

By the mid 18th century, an irreconcilable rift emerged between Iustitia and mainland Valahandia, leading to calls for independence from Iustitians from all walks of life, though perhaps the most vocal of these groups was the large and influential merchant class, desperate to circumvent the confines of Valahandia's domineering trade policies and regulations. The Iustitian nobility, most of whom were heavily invested in the colony's thriving mercantile enterprises, were more than happy to support the budding rebellion where they could. In 1792, Ross Ashley, Baron of Machlain, called a meeting of Iustitian noblemen, guild leaders, bankers, and merchants to discuss the prospects of independence, but a preliminary vote indicated that the committee was not confident Iustitia would be able to maintain it's sovereignty after a split and would be subsumed by another colonial power. Instead, the committee drafted a protracted list of demands, which they intended to present to John IV, King of Valahandia, via a special envoy led by Douglas Black, the patriarch of one of the Valahandia's most well respected banking families. Black, however, was arrested by James Collins, the Governor of Iustitia, and detained in the citadel on Poplar Ridge for over year.

John IV, upon being alerted of the potential uprising, summarily denied all of the Ashley committee's demands, stripped all involved noblemen of their titles and knighthoods and branded all members of the committee traitors, though he was unable to enforce their arrests. In fact, the colony entered a state of open revolt by the winter of 1794, with loyalists and the Governor's garrison engaging a mob of supporters of the committee in open conflict in the streets of Iustitia on February 8, 1794. Although the mob was pushed from the city, they marched on the Poplar Ridge Citadel (aptly renamed Fort Black in 1814 to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the event) and freed Douglas Black, taking the citadel as their own on February 21, 1794. Following the taking of the citadel, a temporary stalemate set in, with Collins unable to retake the fortress and the disorganized pro-committee rabble unable to organize themselves enough to launch a counter offensive. As the deadlock drew on, Ashley, who was not directly involved in the Iustitian revolt, reconvened the committee in Via Regis, where all members present committed to unseating Collins in order to force John IV to heed their earlier demands. Steven Brannock, a defected garrison captain, was charged with assembling an irregular army to lead a march on Iustitia planned for the summer of 1795. The committee also declared itself to be the legitimate governing body of the colony, leading to attacks on Collin's tax collectors over the following months. Collins fled the colony in August of 1795, fearing a march on Iustitia City, and Kenneth Hunt, a member of Ashley's committee, was named the new Governor of Iustitia by a humiliated John IV. Some of the Ashley committee's demands were met, though the overwhelming majority of grievances remained unaddressed.   

Course of the War

Initial Fighting

In 1792, a number of Iustitian merchants and lesser nobility gathered in Iustitia City to push for limited independence at the behest of Ross Ashley, Baron of Machlain and advocate for total Iustitian autonomy, but they were rebuffed by the Valhahandian Governor, Sir James Collins. What followed was a series of political maneuvers by pro and anti independence leaders to oust the other side from local power in the colonies. The two sides clashed in the streets of Iustitia City and nearby towns on a number of occasions over the next three years, resulting in dozens of deaths and the eventual flight of Collins, who feared assassination, from the colony in 1795. Collins was replaced by Sir Kenneth Hunt, who was somewhat sympathetic to Ashley's cause, but did not support full independence. Hunt worked to mend the growing rift between Iustitian and Valahandian commercial and political interests, but was stonewalled by Ashley and his compatriots. Unknown to Hunt, Steven Brannock, a former Iustitia City garrison captain who had been instrumental in ousting Collins, was recruiting an army of commoners in Via Regis, a large fishing town on the island's north coast, while Ashley and his associates cajoled several neutral and loyalist noblemen into joining their cause. On March 8, 1798, Brannock moved his army of more than two thousand to the governor's manor, forcing Hunt to resign. That afternoon, twenty eight noblemen (including Ashley) and some number of merchants met in the governor's manor to formalize their break from Valahandia.

Mainland Campaign

Naturally, Jannes IV (self-styled as "John"), the then monarch of Valahandia, flew into a fury upon learning of the removal of Hunt from power, sending a naval armada to reclaim Iustitia Island and capture the architects of the revolt. Even as Brannock worked to secure the city of Iustitia, an irregular army loyal to the monarchy, led by Sir Peter Fenwick, began coalescing on the southern end of the island, amassing troops in anticipation of the arrival of John's fleet, which made landfall in late May of that year. The subsequent Valahandian counter attack, led by General William Norton in the early summer of 1798, proved extremely devastating to Iustitian forces, resulting in the retreat of Brannock's army to Via Regis, and giving Fenwick's forces an opportunity to recapture Iustitia City in early September. Gradually, Iustitian forces were pushed out of the isle entirely, spending the winter of 1798-1799 entrenched in modern day Atlas, Passarelle. The following spring, Valahandian forces attempted a number of landings on the mainland, only to sustain heavy fire from a mix of asymmetrical (i.e. irregular) and conventional forces sent by Brannock to stymie their advance. In an effort to retake settlements on the mainland, Norton's forces became spread too thin, suffering devastating losses at the hands of well positioned artillery at Stallion Point in April 1799 and at Reef Beach the next month. Humiliated and battered, Norton's forces quickly withdrew from the mainland; Norton was consequently replaced by General Arthur Dering, though this change of leadership did little to improve the war effort for the Valahandians.

Iustitian forces regrouped and pushed back onto the isle in 1800, fighting the Valahandians to a stalemate, though the Valahandians maintained control of Iustitia City and its harbor. During the temporary lull in fighting, Donald Walton, a merchant and supporter of Iustitian independence, hosted a gathering of other lesser nobility and dignitaries, ostensibly as a continuation of the Ashley Committee, to form one unified revolutionary government and bring structure to what had otherwise been a disorganized independence movement of several dozen loosely affiliated partisan groups. Brannock, who commanded the largest and most centralized of these armies, was quick to bend the knee to Walton in an effort to curb desertion, which had grown rampant as the conflict entered it's third year. On August 10, 1800, the Walton Committee produced the Charter of the Republic, a document which established a provisional government, run by a "Council of Patricians" elected by landowners from among Iustitia's ruling elite and guilds. Although some members of the Committee favor a more decentralized government with universal male suffrage, the Charter was adopted without considerable scrutiny under the general understanding that it would be reevaluated after Iustitian independence had been secured.

Iustitian Victory

Relatively unified, pro-independence forces coalesced at Hermit Beach on the northern shore of Iustitia Island in the spring of 1801 to plan a coordinated counteroffensive against Gen. Dering and Sir Fenwick, whose forces were holed up in Iustitia City. In a race to capture Iustitia City before Dering could send word for reinforcements, Brannock engaged in a rapid southward march from Hermit Beach to Poplar Ridge, today a suburb of the city, between September and December of 1801. As the army marched, they faced heavy resistance from entrenched loyalists, but were able to recruit volunteers at a greater rate than they took casualties or experienced desertions. Spending the winter at Poplar Ridge, Brannock began an artillery bombardment campaign of Iustitia City in the bitter-cold late winter and spring of 1802, forcing the surrender of Dering on May 3, 1802. A consequence of the conditions of Dering's surrender, Iustitia was granted its independence by Valahandia and recognized as a distinct, sovereign state.