In 1626, Charles I's uncle Christian IV of Denmark faced a heavy defeat at the Battle of Lutter to forces of the Catholic League commanded by Marshall Tilly. In response the English Privy Council appointed Morgan head of a military expedition to aid the Danish King. Morgan initially amassed 5,013 men, over half of whom had deserted by the time the regiments embarked from Enkhuizen for Denmark in March 1627. He blamed the desertions on the inexperience of his officers, many of whom were amongst the deserters. Morgan built a sconce on the river Weser from which he stopped supplies from the nearby city of Bremen reaching Tilly. Morgan's numbers were raised back to 4,913 in June through forced impressment, as he relocated to the confluence of the Weser and the Aller. Payment for the troops arrived irregularly and by July Morgan described his regiments as being too mutinous to defend themselves against enemy attack. By September he had been reduced to under 2,000 men, a quarter of whom were not fit for service. They were accompanied by 1,700 Dutch troops. As the situation worsened Morgan withdrew his troops to the city of Stade.