Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros de la Torre ( 1756 – 1829 ) was a Spanish naval officer born in Cartagena . He took part in the Battle of Cape St Vincent and the Battle of Trafalgar , and in the Spanish resistance against Napoleon ' s invasion in 1808 . He was later appointed Viceroy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata , replacing Santiago de Liniers . He disestablished the government Junta of Javier de Elío and quelled the Chuquisaca Revolution and the La Paz revolution . An open cabildo deposed him as viceroy during the May Revolution , but he attempted to be the president of the new government junta , thus retaining power . The popular unrest in Buenos Aires did not allow that , so he resigned . He was banished back to Spain shortly after that , and died in 1829 . Biography . Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros was born on January 6 , 1756 , which is the religious feast of Epiphany day , Hence he was named Baltasar after one of the Biblical Magi . Son of Francisco Hidalgo de Cisneros y Ceijas , lieutenant of the Spanish Royal Navy , and Manuela de la Torre y Galindo de Espinosa . He commenced his naval career in 1770 and went to the coasts of Africa and Peru and took part in the military campaign at Algiers . He was involved in the capture of an enemy ship in the English Channel , and was promoted to ship ' s lieutenant . In 1795 he was promoted to commander of the " San Pablo " , part of the Spanish fleet under José de Córdoba y Ramos . Spain at that time was engaged in the Anglo - Spanish War . The fleet engaged a smaller British fleet , but was defeated in the Battle of Cape St Vincent . In 1803 he was in charge of the arsenal of Cartegena , his city of birth . In 1805 he was the captain of the largest Spanish ship " Nuestra Señora de la Santísima Trinidad " during the battle of Trafalgar , a major British victory over the combined Spanish and French fleets . The ship , whilst engaged in battle , lost a mast which fell over Cisneros ' head . This caused concussion , which left him partially deaf for the rest of his life . After that Cisneros was nicknamed " " El sordo " " ( ) . His ship , regarded as one of the most powerful of its time , was captured by HMS Neptune but sank the following day . Cisneros was taken prisoner and received medical care . Whilst under capture he was awarded battle honours and on returning to Spain he was promoted to Lieutenant General . Work as viceroy . After recovering from his wounds , Cisneros received further promotion and served as vice - president of the governing council ( " Junta " ) of Cartagena . The superior Junta of Seville later resolved to end the insurrection in the Río de la Plata , sending Cisneros to replace the viceroy Santiago de Liniers . The Junta regarded Liniers as a rebel with Bonapartist sympathies known in Spanish as an afrancesado . The mutiny of Álzaga , a failed coup by conservative peninsulars against Liniers who was supported by the emerging local bourgeois , was regarded as rebellion by Liniers , influenced by French ideas but who was not a Napoleonic agent . The Junta gave Cisneros orders to land in Montevideo , raise armies against Liniers , prosecute him with court - martial and return him under guard to Spain and to dissolve the local criollo militia . Cisneros also had orders to seek and punish likely Napoleonic sympathisers . The Junta created a political office to conduct direct foreign relations with colonial Brazil , to reign in the autonomy being exercised by the viceroy which was seen as potentially insubordinate and secessionist . He arrived in Montevideo on June 1809 . Manuel Belgrano proposed Liniers to resist his removal and to reject the appointment of Cisneros , on the grounds that Liniers had been confirmed as Viceroy by the authority of a Spanish king , while Cisneros would lack such legitimacy . Nevertheless , Liniers accepted to give up his government to Cisneros without resistance . Noticing that Liniers was not the rebel governor that the Junta thought , he authorized him to stay in the Viceroyalty . Javier de Elío accepted as well the authority of the new Viceroy and dissolved the Junta of Montevideo , becoming once again the Governor of the city . Cisneros tried to take a conciliating policy with the many conflicting political groups . He kept the criollo militias , and granted their commanders to achieve veteran status , which so far was only allowed to peninsular military . He rearmed back the Spanish militias that were disbanded after the coup against Liniers . He also pardoned the responsibles ; Álzaga was not freed , but his sentence was changed to house arrest . However , the attempts to please the criollos found resistance from the Junta , which did not approve the request to promote Cornelio Saavedra to colonel rank . He tried to stay in good relations with the British and the landowners by removing the laws that forbid free trade , but retailers forced Cisneros to restore such laws . Mariano Moreno , a criollo lawyer , wrote a document to request Cisneros the reopening of free trade , entitled " The Representation of the Landowners " . It is considered the most comprehensive economic report of the time . Cisneros finally decided to grant an extension of free trade , which would end on May 19 , 1810 . On May 25 , 1809 , a revolution in Chuquisaca deposed the governor and president of the Royal Audiencia of Charcas , Ramón García de León y Pizarro , and accused him of supporting a Portuguese protectorate under the authority of Charlotte Joaquina . Military command fell to Colonel Juan Antonio Alvarez de Arenales who , due to uncertainty as to who should be in charge of the civilian affairs , also exercised some civil powers . On July 16 , in the city of La Paz , a second revolutionary movement led by Colonel Pedro Domingo Murillo forced the governor to resign and replaced him with a Junta , the " Junta Tuitiva de los Derechos del Pueblo " ( " Junta , keeper of the rights of the people " ) , headed by Murillo . A quick reaction from the Spanish officials soon defeated these rebellions . An army with 1 , 000 men sent from Buenos Aires found no resistance at Chuquisaca , took control of the city , and deposed the Junta . Similarly , Murillo ' s 800 men were completely outnumbered by the more than 5 , 000 men sent from Lima . He was later beheaded along with other leaders and their heads exhibited to the people as deterrent . The measures taken against those revolutions reinforced the feeling of inequity among Criollos , more so because they greatly contrasted against the pardon that Martín de Álzaga and others received after serving just a few time in jail . This further deepened the resentment of the locals against the peninsular Spaniards . Among others , Juan José Castelli was present at the proceedings of the University of Saint Francis Xavier where the " Syllogism of Chuquisaca " was developed . This would greatly influence his position during the " May week " . On November 25 , 1809 Cisneros created the Political Surveillance Court with the aim of pursuing the supporters of " French ideologies " , and those who encouraged the creation of political regimes that opposed the dependence on Spain . However , he rejected a proposal of the economist José María Romero to banish a number of people which were considered dangerous to the Spanish regime : Saavedra , Paso , Chiclana , Vieytes , Balcarce , Castelli , Larrea , Guido , Viamonte , Moreno , Sáenz and Belgrano , among many others . All these measures , and a proclamation issued by the Viceroy to prevent the spreading of news that might be considered subversive , made the Criollos think that a formal pretext would be enough to take actions that would lead to the outbreak of a revolution . On April 1810 , Cornelio Saavedra expressed his famous quote to his friends : " It ' s not time yet , let the figs ripen and then we ' ll eat them " . May Revolution . The news of the fall of the Junta of Seville reached Buenos Aires on May 1810 . With both the king of Spain and the Junta removed of power , many people thought that Cisneros had no legitimacy to govern , starting the May Revolution . Cisneros tried to calm down the population , to no avail . He called the commanders of the local armies and requested their support , but they denied it . Cisneros was ultimately forced to allow an open cabildo , which would discuss what to do . Although those meetings were usually composed of the wealthiest population , the army and a group of rioters plotted to prevent the entry of many wealthy people and allow common people instead . The open cabildo decided to end the mandate of viceroy Cisneros , and establish a government Junta instead . However , the Cabildo tweaked the will of the open cabildo , and appointed Cisneros as president of the Junta ; he would remain in power , albeit under a new title . The Junta made the oath of office , but popular unrest became uncontrollable . By the end of the same day the Junta was appointed , the members resigned , and Cisneros did so as well . Initially , the Cabildo rejected his resignation , but the popular unrest was so high that the Cabildo itself was partially overrun by the rioters . Cisneros ' resignation was finally accepted , and the Primera Junta was appointed instead , with members proposed by the people . Once deposed , Cisneros dispatched a messenger to Córdoba , to inform the former viceroy of the events , and bestowing on him the authority to gather an army and deposethe Junta . Return to Spain . After being deposed , Cisneros formally became a common citizen in Buenos Aires , under the protection of the Junta . A few days later , he assisted to a mass in honour of the king Ferdinand VII . However , the Junta distrusted him , so he was banished to the Canary Islands , along with the members of the Royal Audiencia of Buenos Aires , under the pretext that his life was in danger . His wife Inés de Gaztambide stayed in Buenos Aires as his representative , but she left the cityafterwards and moved to Montevideo . Montevideo , a city that rejected the Junta of Buenos Aires , welcomed her like a queen . The Liniers counter - revolution was completely defeated by the forces from Buenos Aires , and Liniers captured and executed . Once in Spain , Cisneros moved to Cádiz , to submit himself to the trial of residence . The government had no complaints about his rule , and promoted him to general captain of Cádiz . He was jailed during an uprising in Spain , and liberated after the return of Ferdinand VII . He was then appointed general captain of his home city of Cartagena in 1823 , and died in 1829 . External links . " In Spanish unless otherwise noted . "