It happened after a failed skin maneuver with the liner Christian VIII and the frigate Gefion on April 5 in the Egernførde fjord, where they tried to keep the Schleswig-Holstein army in the belief that a landing could take place there.

The Germans then marched north, and after a few hours of fighting, Major General Olaf Rye withdrew to the Almind area.

A reconnaissance on 19 April showed that Brigadier General Bonin's troops were in a line from Rebæk by Kolding Fjord, north of Dalby and Vonsild to Fovslet.

On April 20 at At 5 o'clock in the morning, Brigadier General Bonin ordered his second-in-command, Colonel Zastrow, to return the Danish outposts.

When the ammunition began to run out, Captain Caroc ordered the Espingols to withdraw, during which First Lieutenant Schow was severely wounded.

The Prussian Brigadier General Bonin felt pressured and ordered his flanks together in a wedge shape and withdrew a little, but only to regroup.