Later, as colonel of a unit of Hussars, Rodríguez organized the militias that menaced a political meeting in April 1811, in an attempt to support Cornelio Saavedra. As a result of this, Rodríguez was temporarily imprisoned in San Juan, Argentina. The following year Rodríguez intervened in the Battle of Salta. He was chief of the general staff of the Army of the North, and later acted as the president of Charcas. Rejoining the troops, he participated in the defeats of Venta and Media and in the Battle of Sipe-Sipe.