page_title: Cornelio Saavedra
section_title: The mutiny of Álzaga
hierarchical_section_title: Cornelio Saavedra / Biography / The mutiny of Álzaga
caption_attribution_description: Español: Retrato al óleo de Martín de Álzaga
context_page_description: Cornelio Judas Tadeo de Saavedra y Rodríguez was a military officer and statesman from the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. He was instrumental in the May Revolution, the first step of Argentina's independence from Spain, and was appointed president of the Primera Junta.
  Saavedra was the first commanding officer of the Regiment of Patricians created after the ill-fated British invasions of the Río de la Plata. The increased militarization of the city and the relaxation of the system of castas allowed him, as other criollo peoples, to become a prominent figure in local politics. His intervention was decisive to thwart the Mutiny of Álzaga and allow viceroy Santiago de Liniers to stay in power. Although he supported the establishment of a government Junta, as others created in Spain during the contemporary Peninsular War, he desired that criollos had an important role in it. He advised against rushed actions as well, and as his Regiment was crucial in any action against the viceroy, he denied his help until it was a good strategic moment to do so. The opportunity came in May, 1810, and the May Revolution successfully ousted the viceroy.
context_section_description: The outbreak of the Peninsular War in Spain and the capture of the Spanish king Ferdinand VII generated a political crisis in the Spanish colonies in the Americas. The first project to maintain the monarchy was the short-lived Carlotism, which sought to crown Carlota Joaquina as regent. This project was supported by criollos like Manuel Belgrano and Juan José Castelli, but whether Saavedra supported it is disputed. The Carlotism was abandoned soon afterwards, and the people sought other projects.
  Francisco Javier de Elío established a government Junta in Montevideo, similar to the ones established in Spain, and his ally in Buenos Aires, Martín de Álzaga, sought to do a similar thing. The Mutiny of Álzaga took place on January 1, 1809. He accused Liniers of trying to appoint loyal members to the Cabildo, and gathered a small demonstration to request his resignation. The rebels, backed by some peninsular militias, occupied the Plaza. Liniers was about to resign, to prevent further conflicts.
  Cornelio Saavedra, who was aware of the conspiracy, considered it a plot by peninsulars to secure political power over the criollo peoples. He marched with the Regiment of Patricians swiftly to the Plaza, and thwarted the mutiny. There was no violence in the operation, as the criollos forced the rebels to give up just by the sheer force of numbers. Thus, Liniers stayed in office as viceroy. All the heads of the mutiny were sentenced to prison at Carmen de Patagones, and the militias that took part in it were dissolved. The only peninsular militias remaining were those of Andaluces and Montañeses, who did not join the mutiny; criollos obtained the military command, and the political power of Saavedra increased even more.
  A few months later, the Junta of Seville appointed a new Viceroy, Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros. Some patriots proposed a self-coup to keep Liniers in power and resist the new viceroy, but Saavedra and Liniers himself did not accept it and the transition was performed without problems. Although Saavedra supported the plans of the criollos to seize power, he warned about taking rushed measures, considering that the ideal time to do so would be when the Napoleonic forces achieved a decisive advantage in the Spanish conflict. Until then, he forced the other revolutionaries to stay quiet by denying the help of his regiment. His usual quote was "Peasants and gentlemen, it is not yet time – let the figs ripen, and then we'll eat them." Although he was sometimes suspected of sympathy for Cisneros for his reluctance to take action against him, he maintained his strategy. Saavedra's political moderation may have been influenced by his previous career in the Cabildo.
caption: Martín de Álzaga sought to depose the viceroy Liniers. By defeating his mutiny, Saavedra increased his political power.
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