In 1797, Azurduy returned to live on her father's hacienda, spending her days with the indigenous people who lived on his land. She witnessed the brutality of their work in Spanish silver mines, and became a passionate ally to the indigenous revolutionary movement. In 1805, Azurduy married her neighbor and childhood friend Manuel Ascencio Padilla, a fellow revolutionary who left a Royalist law school to join the independence movement. Their marriage was remarkably progressive, with Padilla standing alongside his wife on and off the battlefield. Before their military engagements began, the Padillas had two sons. Both would die tragically young due to disease and malnutrition in military camps.