In the summer and fall of 1808 , an Imperial French corps under Guillaume Philibert Duhesme was isolated in Barcelona by a 24,000-man Spanish army led by Juan Miguel de Vives y Feliu .

With 23,000 men , Gouvion Saint-Cyr moved Motion from the French border to relieve Assistance Duhesme 's troops .

Gouvion Saint-Cyr still faced Confronting_problem the problem of getting Getting past Girona in order to succor Assistance Duhesme 's soldiers .