Garibaldi had led volunteer forces with great success during the unification of Italy, and had also fought in South America.

However, after Napoleon III was defeated and the French Third Republic was proclaimed, and Bismarck demanded the cession of Alsace, Italian opinion reversed completely.

This was best exemplified by the reaction of Garibaldi, who told the Movimento of Genoa on 7 September 1870 that "Yesterday I said to you: war to the death to Bonaparte.

The French commanders were unsure of the wisdom in bringing on Garibaldi, as well as harboring old feelings of distrust, as they had been enemies until just a short time previously.

The Army was organized into four brigades, "the first commanded by General Bossack, the second by Colonel Delpeck… and the third by Menotti [Garibaldi, Giuseppe's son].

The chief of staff for the Army of the Vosges was General Bordone, the man largely responsible for Garibaldi going to France.

Just as it appeared that all hope was lost, General Carl Wilhelm von Werder recalled his troops to Dijon.

General von Werder had noticed a buildup of French troops near Dijon and therefore wanted the army back to help defend the city.

This was not to be however, as shortly after the arrival of the army to Dijon, in late December, von Werder ordered that the city be evacuated.

The Prussians attacked Dijon from the West in great numbers; however, the French had been preparing and the defenses of the city were well in place.

The French government surrendered Paris to the German army at the end of January, and brought the war to a close.

[7] Days later, however, after the Assembly refused to hear him when he wished to speak at the moment when the President had just adjourned the meeting, Garibaldi resigned his seat and as commander of the Army of the Vosges.