Capture of Älvsborg

Background
On 13 August 1563, war was declared by emissaries from Denmark and Lübeck in Stockholm.

The Capture
That month, Danish king Fredrik II attacked Älvsborg. At the beginning of the war the Danes advanced from Halland with a 25,000-strong army of professional mercenaries and captured Sweden's gateway to the west, Älvsborg Fortress, after only three days of bombardment and a six-hour assault, on 4 September.