In 876, a Danish army eluded the West Saxon levies and seized Wareham, a strategically positioned town built on a dry point between the Rivers Frome and Piddle at the head of Poole Harbour. The Danes occupied the settlement and adopted their customary strategy of holding a fortified position while awaiting a peace treaty, whereby money would be paid in return for a promise to depart the kingdom. Alfred, shadowing the army and seeking to prevent further damage, was unable to dislodge them by force and instead concluded terms with the occupiers.
The Danes gave hostages and oaths to leave the country, and Alfred paid them a sum of Danegeld. However, the agreement proved short-lived. The Danish force promptly broke their word and slipped away not out of Wessex but deeper into it, making for Exeter, where they established themselves anew in the autumn of 877. The episode at Wareham thus formed part of a prolonged series of Danish incursions into Wessex that would culminate in the decisive confrontation at Edington in 878.
The Danes, having eluded the West Saxon levies, occupied Wareham in 876 and employed their well-practised tactic of fortifying a town and waiting for Alfred to buy them off; they duly received hostages and oaths, accepted Danegeld, and then broke their pledges entirely, slipping away to Exeter rather than quitting the kingdom as promised.
not recorded (hostages given by the Danes were killed by their own side when the truce was broken; no battle casualty figures recorded)
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