Francisco Javier de Viana Francisco Javier de Viana ( 1764 – 1820 ) , Argentine sailor and soldier , actively participated in the politics of his country as an ally of general Carlos María de Alvear . Career beginnings . He studied at the Colegio de San Carlos and later on in Spain , possibly at the naval school in Cádiz , then served in the navy and in scientific commissions to establish and map borders of the era . He served as writer and reporter on the four - year voyage of the ships " Descubierta " and " Atrevida " , captained by Alejandro Malaspina . After the British invasions of the Río de la Plata , the city of Montevideo had been left without a naval defense as the sailors had been taken prisoner to Great Britain . The authorities had to rebuild it anew and Viana was sent as part of the new naval forces . In 1809 Viana was sent by governor Francisco Javier de Elío to rescue Martín de Álzaga , who had been exiled to Carmen de Patagones by order of viceroy Santiago de Liniers . Upon the May Revolution he ended up in the royalist side , fighting against the revolutionaries of the Banda Oriental ( present - day Uruguay ) . After the Battle of San José , colonel José Artigas attacked the town of Maldonado , defeating the defending commander , Viana . He was then sent as prisoner to Buenos Aires . Lautaro Lodge and Alvear ' s dictatorship . After being freed , he was incorporated to the Argentine Army with the rank of lieutenant colonel , in command of the navy . Until the end of 1811 he was the commander in chief of the comandante of the revolutionary navy , even though command of the squadron was under Juan Bautista Azopardo until his defeat at San Nicolás de los Arroyos . Hw was made colonel in June 1813 and a member of the Lautaro Lodge , and was named governor of the Córdoba del Tucumán Intendancy , a post he occupied only for a short time . His opposition accused him of governing his province ( which at the time included the Cuyo region and the La Rioja Province as if it were enemy occupied territory , obtaining contributions by force , punishing and rewarding the citizens for their adherence - or not - to the Buenos Aires government . In February 1814 he was replaced by Francisco Ortiz de Ocampo , a native of La Rioja who , even though born in the interior , could not control the tendency of the population to favor provincial autonomy , which would soon arrive in any case . Returning to Buenos Aires , Viana became a member of the consulting council for the Supreme Director Gervasio Posadas , and accompanied general Carlos María de Alvear to finish the siege of Montevideo . He became good friends with Alvear and was . as him , a strong enemy of the Federal Party led by Artigas . Back in Buenos Aires , he was promoted to general and name minister of war and navy , a posthe maintained in the last few months of Posadas ' s government , and during the last three months of Alvear ' s government . In March 1815 he organized and commanded an expedition against the federals of Santa Fe Province , but before he could depart in that direction , the commander of his advance forces , colonel Ignacio Álvarez Thomas , revolted at Fontezuelas . That sublevation started the revolution which would force Alvear to resign and go into exile . Viana went with his friend and boss to Río de Janeiro , and upon arriving found he had been deported for life . Last years . When the Portuguese took Montevideo , in 1818 , he went to that city , explicitly accepting a foreign government in his own national soil . He returned to Buenos Aires during the anarchy of 1820 along with Alvear , to work on the revolution which would carry Alvear to a short - lived government in part of the province . Viana , ill at the time remained in the city when Alvear joined the Santa Fe people under Estanislao López , and died in Buenos Aires in 1820 .