Yegros and Pedro Juan Caballero were the main military figures in the Revolution of May 1811, which led to the Independence of Paraguay. Following independence, from June 19, 1811 until October 12, 1813 Yegros was President of the five-man ruling Junta Superior Gubernativa which in 1813 was replaced by a two-man consulate. Yegros and José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia were chosen by Congress in 1813 as Consuls of the Republic following the model of the French Revolution.