Westmoreland War

Westmoreland War
Date June 1841 - 5th July 1843 Location New Columbia and Mareyland Result Treaty of Sirenport Disputed lands ceded to New Columbia End of the Lannachee River wars
Belligerents
Imperial New Columbia Vionna-Frankenlisch (limited)	Mareyland
Commanders and leaders
Lord Casellaine Frederick Calyne Robert Monkfrith † Sir Lambert Sollin Edward II Lord Clarren	President George Clayton George Starnes Henry Radcliff

The Westmoreland War was a conflict in the mid-19th century fought between the Vionna-Frankenlischian colony of New Columbia and the young Republic of Mareyland over border disputes. By far the largest in a series of short border wars between the two, the Westmoreland War finally ended the long-lasting border disputes centered around the Lannachee River mostly in New Columbia's favour at the Treaty of Sirenport.

Border Disputes

Diplomatic negotiations between the Imperial administration in New Columbia and the government of Mareyland over the Lannachee River and its surrounding areas had been held sporadically since the late 1820s, however, due to the negligible authority of New Columbian diplomats and the constantly-changing priorities of the Mareylander government, the talks were almost entirely fruitless. Talks broke down entirely with the election of expansionist George Clayton as Mareylander president in 1840 and the bubbling tension was escalated severely when the Clayton administration declared the incorporation of the entire Lannachee River region as the Westmoreland Territory at the end of the year. The declaration of the Westmoreland Territory Charter on 12th December 1840 was met with horror in New Adeleux. The proposed territory included all of the disputed region, even extending into the range of several New Columbian trapping posts. A complaint was lodged with the Mareylander State Department but no response was received. Governor-General the Earl of Casellaine requested instruction from the Colonial Office and was advised only to open fresh talks with the Mareylander government. The Imperial government did not consider the threat seriously and the number of Imperial forces in New Columbia actually declined over the course of the next month.

At the start of 1841, diplomatic overtures from the New Columbian administration were rebuffed by Clayton's government. Throughout January and February of that year, no less than seven settlement proposals from New Adeleux were rejected as unsuitable and the permanent colonial mission in Leesburg was recalled by Lord Casellaine on 28th February after Clayton refused to meet with the Imperial minister, Lady Adelaide Stracken. Popular opinion towards Clayton's government in Mareyland was sky-high and in March, his government went a step further by calling up militia forces in the counties neighboring the Westmoreland Territory, along with a small force of army pioneers, to construct a series of small forts in the new territory to assert Mareylander control over the region. This was considered a serious threat in New Adeleux and Lord Casellaine made an immediate request for Imperial troops and the intervention of the Foreign Ministry.

Forces

Main article: Forces of the Westmoreland War