[3] After a quick start of the invasion of states of Frederick V, proclaimed King of Bohemia, the operations slowed in mid-September, after the Capture of Oppenheim.

[4] Don Ambrosio Spinola, the Spanish general in command, assessed at a council of war the choice between undertaking the siege of Heidelberg or, secondarily, the town of Bacharach.

[6] Bacharach was an important strategic point because it was a bridgehead over the Rhine and would be a link between the part of the Palatinate occupied by the Spaniards and the city of Mainz.

With his attention centered on the arrival of the Anglo-Dutch relief, Spinola remained near the road with the bulk of his army, and entrusted the capture of Bacharach to Don Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba.

[citation needed] At dawn, the defenders, aided by heavy mist, fired shots of musket, killing three Spaniards and wounding three more.

[3][10] Córdoba left a garrison of 300 soldiers in Bacharach and sent most of his troops under the commanders Diego Ruiz and Baltasar de Santander to capture Kaub.