Unbeknownst to the Ambracians, the first army had been defeated, surrounded and scattered by the allied Athenians, Amphilochians and Acarnanians the day before.
The Ambracians were oblivious to the fact that their first military force had been comprehensively defeated the day prior, having been surrounded and dispersed by an alliance of Athenian, Amphilochian, and Acarnanian troops.