King Christian V and the Danish army that landed at Råå near Helsingborg in Scania in late June 1676 managed to conquer almost the whole province in less than a month.

[5] In early August, Major General Jakob Duncan, a native Scot, was sent north, to Halland, with about 4,000 Danish troops[6] to take the key-town of Halmstad and if possible advance further north to join forces with General Ulrik Frederick Gyldenløve, who had reached Gothenburg with a Norwegian army and was threatening to besiege the city.

[5] On August 10, King Charles XI of Sweden received information that Duncan was moving towards Halmstad.

King Christian soon informed him of the Swedish troop movements and ordered Duncan to retreat to the town of Laholm.

Early in the morning of August 17, the Swedish army seized the road between Halmstad and Laholm, cutting off Duncan's way south.

[9] The battle started with a salvo from the few Swedish cannons, whereupon Charles XI and his Household cavalry charged down the hills to attack the Danish left wing.

[8] In the centre, the Danish infantry put up a determined fight, with a powerful counter-attack from a cavalry unit that tried to break through the Swedish lines, but only one squadron made it through.

The defeat at Halmstad dealt a hard blow to the Danish plans to advance north and join forces with the Norwegian army.

The day after the battle the Danish King Christian V broke camp and left Kristianstad and started marching towards Halmstad.