Exalted Marches

An Exalted March is a crusade led by the Chantry. The goal of these crusades are to spread the Chant of Light to those who vehemently refuse it. In current history, only two have been officially sanctioned by the Chantry.
According to the Chantry, the faithful who give their lives to the Exalted Marches earn a special place at the side of the Maker as an "Exalted".

First Exalted March

The first march predates the existence of the Chantry, though religious scholars call it the first march as it lead to the creation of the Chantry. It's exact origin is unknown, however it is known that Andraste, Prophet of the Maker, served as the head of it all.
Several centuries ago, a massive horde of barbarians crossed the Waking Sea from the South. They were lead by Andraste and her warlord husband, Maferath. Some believe that the tribesfolk were forced North by Jrid, others claim it was because Andraste wanted to free the Alamarri people from the shackles the Tevinter Imperium put them under. Either way, war was waged over central Thedas between Andraste's army and the Imperium magistrates. Not long after, Tevinter slaves also began their own uprise. This group of people mostly consist of the people now known as the Dalish.
Tevinter forces were being defeated until they succumbed to what is believed to have been blood magic. The army they faced was far too powerful, however. In a move of desperation, Tevinter forces met the army in now-Nevarran lands. There, they began summoning demons from the Fade and unleashing all sorts of abominations unto the world. After three unrelenting days of fighting, hope seemed lost for the Andrastian army. On the morning of the fourth day, as the sun crest over the plains, the Dragon Phalanx made their first appearance in the world.
Coming from their Western kingdom, the dragonborn ran head first into the sea of demons that plagued the hillsides. Prior to this moment in history, an army so powerful had never been seen before. For an entire day straight, the dragonborn fought and protected the Andrastian army who was flagging at the time. Through some of the most impressive displays of tactical and battle prowess, the Dragon Phalanx broke down the lines of the Tevinter magistrates, decimating all they deemed evil. Upon victory, they left as quickly as they came and returned to the Anderfels.
With victory seeming so close, something changed in Maferath's mind. He betrayed his wife, Andraste, and gave her to Tevinter magistrates. Quickly thereafter, she was burned at the stake.
Maferath split the lands he had conquered into the regions of the Free Marches. He also gave the elves who aided him a new home in the Dales.

Second Exalted March

The second march was fueled by a growing hatred between Orlais and the Dalish. Orlesians who had devoted their lives to the Chant of Light felt deep down that the elves, though they had helped in the first march, would be an obstacle to the return of the Maker. This belief came from the fact that Chantry acolytes had been sent into the Dales in hopes of converting the elves from their old gods instead to the light of the Maker. Many of those acolytes were never seen again. The Chantry's Divine at the time refused to declare open war against the elves, for unknown reasons.
The Dales became increasingly isolationist, barring trade and discourse from beyond their borders. This threatened Orlais' economic state, making matters only worse. Border skirmishes began between Orlesian countrysiders, chevaliers, and elven knights. None of their battles were officially sanctioned by either side and were mostly small in scale. Eventually, the Chantry declared open war against the elves and thus the Second Exalted March began. The exact event that motivated the deceleration of war is unknown, though many running theories exist. The official Chantry history would say that the elves became too belligerent and began sacrificing children of the Maker to the old gods, forcing the Chantry's hand.
At this point in time, Orlesians were confident and believed the chevaliers as the strongest fighting force in the world. However, within the first two months of the march, their capital of Val Royeaux was conquered by the Dalish. News of this shook the world at the time, for something like this had never been even considered possible by any other country. Unfortunately for the elves, this victory was not long lasted. Orlesians spent months fighting in skirmishes outside the city to slowly weaken down the elves. The location was also disadvantageous for the elves since they had never planned on travelling so far out of their homeland. Thus, they did not have proper routes and trails for sending supplies long distances.
Many generals would've sent their armies to die in their capital if it meant protecting their honor. Intelligently, Orlesians generals knew that such a task would've meant death of their finest warriors which was an unacceptable loss. This method of slowly suffocating the elves worked wonders since it also bought them time to pull together all of the chevaliers and arm the Orlesian country folk. In one of Orlais' greatest displays of power to date, the generals lead their army to fight against the elves in the city of Val Royeaux. The elves were far outmatched and brutally pushed out. The Orlesians did not stop at that city, however. This army fought every step of the way until finally reaching the capital of the Dales. In their journey getting there, it is believed that the Orlesian army did not lose a single battle against the Dalish.
By this point, hundreds of thousands if not millions of Dalish had been killed. In what is now known as the Plain of Tears, the remaining Dalish forces attempted to hold their sacred land. Due to the awful 12-to-1 odds, it is no surprise they lost.
Refusing to betray their beliefs, the remaining Dalish general Joslasan (who was only a general due to higher-ups dying) issued a challenge to the most prominent Orlesian general. The two were meant to face one-another in a fair duel. Elves claim that the Orlesian general cheated and had crossbowmen kill Joslasan during their fight. Prior to his own death, however, Joslasan managed to kill the Orlesian general as well. Orlais annexed the Dales to become part of the Orlesian Empire. Alienages were created for the Dalish population who submitted. The end of the Second Exalted March had come.

Conflict Type

Military Campaign

Battlefield Type

Land

Location

Thedas

Belligerents

Andrastian Army vs. Tevinter Imperium (First)

Orlais vs. Dalish (Second)

Strength

Andrastian Army: Andraste, Maferath, Alamarri barbarians, Tevinter slaves, Dragon Phalanx (temporarily)
Tevinter: Magistrates, Archons, Fade creatures (summoned), blood mages, Tevinter warriors

Orlais: Chantry warriors, Templars, Circle Magi, Chevaliers, Orlesian countryfolk

Dalish: Emerald Knights, elven apostates, Dalish freefolk

Casualties

Death of Andraste. Tevinter Imperium losing much of its land.

Annexation of the Dales. Mass genocide of the Dalish.

Objectives

Free the oppressed people from underneath the Tevinter's despicable rulership.

Destroy the heretical Dalish belief in the "Old Gods".