From the start of the Siege of Paris (19 September 1870 - 20 January 1871 ), French strategy focused on harassing actions against Prussian troops established in the east of the country, to reduce pressure on the capital such as the Battles of Strasbourg and Metz.

On October 17, General Von Werder's troops occupied Luxeuil and Vesoul, and on the 26th Gray, and on the 27th they marched towards Dijon, barely delayed by the Garde Mobile who had positioned themselves to defend the passage of the Vingeanne.

Colonel Adrien François Louis Fauconnet, returned from Beaune with a few thousand men and was seriously wounded there while he was attempting a counter-offensive on Gray Road, in front of the granting barrier, and died a few hours later, after having taken knowledge of the decree which appointed him general.

[14] Around five o'clock in the evening, the municipality had the white flag hoisted on the tower of the Palace, not without the man in charge of this mission having first suffered shots from supporters of the resistance to the extreme.

[16] Meanwhile, Giuseppe Garibaldi arrived in Marseille on October 7, to help the Republic which had succeeded the Second French Empire of Napoleon III, whose armies had defeated him in Rome in 1849 and at the Battle of Mentana in 1867.

The army, which initially numbered less than 4,000 men, was made up of colonials, national guards from Aveyron, the Alpes-Maritimes and Savoie, Frankish corps (east and south-east of France), and foreign volunteers (Polish, Hungarian, Spanish, American and, above all, Italian).

From the following month, Garibaldi set up his own headquarters in Autun, and began attacks on the Prussian army, disrupting supply lines from Strasbourg to Paris.

After a day of fighting, the Frankish corps retreated, leaving around 1,200 French prisoners, 97 German officers shot dead, and Prince Wilhelm wounded, with overall losses amounting to a few hundred men.

On 14 January 1871, Garibaldi settled in Dijon, which had been evacuated by the Prussians on December 17 after they were informed of the arrival (in the north) of French regular troops led by Charles-Denis Bourbaki.

[18] Bourbaki attempted an ambitious operation to relieve Paris by taking the enemy troops from the rear, through a vast strategic movement from Bourges to Alsace via Belfort.

The army of Paris failed in its efforts, while the retreat of Bourbaki towards Besançon was interrupted by the Germans of General Edwin von Manteuffel and pushed towards the Swiss border, mainly at Verrières-de-Joux on January 31.

Following the retreat of Bourbaki's main army, Garibaldi reduced his action to the defense of Dijon and the "gates of Burgundy", preventing the enemy from advancing south.