Enomoto and some others submitted a petition for granting the control of Ezochi to the retainers of the former Shogunate in the name of development and protection of the north, but the new government rejected it and deployed troops.
榎本らは北方の防衛開拓を名目として旧幕臣政権による蝦夷地支配の追認を求める嘆願書を朝廷に提出したが、新政府はこれを認めず派兵した。