Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Lokacin da Yaƙin Franco-Prussian ya ɓarke a watan Yulin 1870, Bataille ya zama kwamandan na 2 na "général de division" Charles Auguste Frossard's II Army Corps. Rukunin nasa ya jagoranci sojojin Frossard a yakin farko na yakin, yakin Saarbrücken, a ranar 2 ga Agusta, 1870. A Yaƙin Spicheren
a ranar 6 ga watan Agusta, Frossard ya sanya sashin Bataille a cikin ajiya, amma Bataille ya ba da sashin aikin ba tare da umarnin Frossard ba, ya raba shi kashi biyu don tallafawa layin Faransa a kan harin Jamus da kuma ƙarfafa layin Faransa, kodayake ya hana Frossard duk wata dama ta yin motsi ta hanyar ba da ajiyarsa. Da yake la'akari da barazanar da aka yi a hannun hagu na Faransa, Bataille a kan kansa ya ba da wata runduna don karfafa hagu, kuma a ƙarshen rana ya cire abubuwan da ke cikin sashinsa a hannun dama na Faransa a kusa da Stiring-Wendel a cikin mawuyacin hali yayin da sojojin Faransa suka janye daga fagen fama.