 During the autumn of 1760 Duke Ferdinand of Brunswick, the commander of the allied army saw the French were threatening Hanover.To create a diversion he dispatched 20,000 men command by the Erbprinz of Brunswick to draw the French army away and to the west.The French commander prepared to defend the town of Wesel on the east bank of the Rhine burning the bridge over the Rhine at the mouth of the Lippe while Marquis de Castries hurried with extra reinforcements to relieve the garrison.