Arcer Bush Wars: Difference between revisions

=== Background ===

The establishment of a Carnish colony and the increased settlement of Occidental peoples threated Indigenous tribes' sovereignty and this created a disputed land claim. Additionally, the killing of an Indigenous man and subsequent fallout of the burial in the Carnish colonial capital of Hughes' Town (later Kurst) caused the A'awaska peoples to begin an increased number of raids and attacks on Arcer settlements, causing then Crown-Governor, John Hughes, to begin military action on behalf of the Carnish Crown to protect the colony.  

==== Carna ====

Carna had established the Colony of Crona in 1790 as part of Hughes' expedition, and by the time of the war's outbreak, it had expanded this to three towns and multiple smaller settlements in the new colony. The Carnish Crown also saw the settlement as an investment and had been sending additional ships and settlement flotillas to the Malentine and Songun Seas to continue the influx of Gaelic and Anglic peoples into the colony.  

==== Indigenous Peoples ====

The A'awaska tribe, natives of the Arcer Lowlands, had been scorned due to the murder of an Indigenous man caught stealing in Hughes' Town. Raids on Arcer farmsteads and the killing of Carnish settlers had raised the profile of the tribe, however their raids and forays into Carnish colonial territory were seen more as a form of self-defense of their lands than outright acts of hostility.  

== First Bush War (1794-1801) ==

At the beginning of the war, the Carnish Colony of Crona had only a few thousand settlers, and only two main fortifications, that being Fort Ellis in Kurst and the artillery revettment in Chester-on-Moore. Each of the two main settlements could muster approximately a company (~200 men) of militia each, and the sailors and marines of the Carnish naval service provided roughly an additional company of regular forces. Due to the irregular nature of warfare, and the technological overmatch with muskets and cannon, the settlers did not expect an outright pitched battle between themselves and local Indigenous tribes. While some had conducted trading and limited commercial interactions, in general both factions kept to themselves, with limited exposure or attention paid to the other's customs or needs.  

=== 1794 - Massacre of the Northern Caravan ===

In April of 1794, John Hughes authorized an expedition of one hundred and fifty men and women to venture North to establish another town further up the Malentine coast, believing that moving into this territory would allow greater access to Indigenous peoples' trade that flowed through the lowland passes of the Aileach Mountain Range. The one hundred and fifty were selected and given wagons, horses, and a limited number of cattle and other livestock, setting out at the end of the month from Kurst. After two weeks on the road, they were spotted by members of Chief Low'sa's tribe, of A'awaskan allegiance. Chief Low'sa quickly gathered several dozen warriors and set upon the caravan, killing most of the Carnish settlers and running down most of the survivors who escaped the carnage. This was seen as a necessary measure not only to curb the expansion of the colony, but also represented an opportunity to seize guns, livestock, and other goods from the ill-protected caravan.  

The few survivors that managed to return to Kurst told the story of the massacre, and John Hughes began provisions to defend the colony. Hughes organized the local militia and established a more rigid training schedule and improved their equipment with the issuing of more modern flintlock muskets to replace many of the aging wheellock weapons, and gave the local citizens access to more cartridges and shot for training. Concurrent to this, in May of 1794 Hughes ordered the company of Carnish marines inland, to foray and try and destroy the members of Chief Low'sa's tribe. The marines augmented their company with some sailors from the ''Windswept'', and set off, encountering a few small bands of Indigenous peoples, and over the next several weeks engaged in a series of small, inconclusive skirmishes.