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 from the French border to relieve Duhesme's troops. The first obstacle to Gouvion Saint-Cyr's mission was the coastal fortress of Roses. The 3,500 Spanish defenders of Roses were mostly local militia stiffened by some regulars. Though assisted by several British warships commanded by Thomas Cochrane, the garrison was unable to slow the advance of the Franco-Italian siege lines. The defenders eventually capitulated, except for a few who were evacuated by the British navy. Gouvion Saint-Cyr still faced the problem of getting past Girona in order to succor Duhesme's soldie