Cornelio Saavedra Cornelio Judas Tadeo de Saavedra y Rodríguez ( September 15 , 1759 in Otuyo – March 29 , 1829 in Buenos Aires ) 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 casta s 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 ( the mutiny of Álzaga was promoted by peninsulars ) . 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 . Saavedra was appointed president of the Primera Junta , which took government after it . The local politics were soon divided between him and the secretary Mariano Moreno . Saavedra wanted gradual changes , while Moreno promoted more radical ones . Saavedra encouraged the expansion of the Junta with deputies from the other provinces ; this left Moreno in a minority , and he resigned . A later rebellion made in behalf of Saavedra forced the remaining supporters of Moreno to resign as well . He left the presidency after the defeat of the first Upper Peru campaign , and headed to lead the Army of the North . His absence was exploited by political opponents , who established the First Triumvirate and issued an arrest warrant against Saavedra . Saavedra stayed in exile until 1815 , when all the charges against him were dropped . Biography . Early life . Saavedra was born at the hacienda " " La Fombera " " , located in the town of Otuyo , near the former Imperial City of Potosi . The city was part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru by that time , but would be annexed into the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata some years later . His father was Santiago Felipe de Saavedra y Palma , a native of Buenos Aires , whose ancestry reached to Hernando Arias de Saavedra . His mother was María Teresa Rodríguez Michel , a native of the Villa Imperial de Potosi . Santiago had left Buenos Aires and married María . They were a wealthy family , with many sons , Cornelio being the last one . The family moved to Buenos Aires in 1767 . There , during his adolescence , Cornelio attended the " Real Colegio de San Carlos " . The school was only for the elite , and to attend it was required to be allowed by the viceroy , know reading and writing , be at least ten years old , be a legitimate son and have certified " limpieza de sangre " ; Saavedra met all the requirements . He studied philosophy and Latin Grammar between 1773 and 1776 . However , he could not graduate due to overwhelming duties in the management of the family ranch . Unlike other rich youths of the time , he did not attend to university . In 1788 , he married Maria Francisca Cabrera y Saavedra , his cousin . Francisca was rich , and it is likely that it was an arranged marriage . They had three sons , Diego , Mariano and Manuel . Francisca died in 1798 . Saavedra began his political career in 1797 , working at the Buenos Aires Cabildo , assuming various administrative roles . By then , the city had become the capital of the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata . His first political appointment was as fourth alderman , and third alderman the following year . In 1801 , he was appointed Mayor of First Vote . That same year he married his second wife , Doña Saturnina Otárola del Rivero . In 1805 , he was appointed to the position of Grain manager , within a local governmental body that dealt with the provision of wheat and other cereals in the city . It is considered that Saavedra supported the proposals of Manuel Belgrano at the Commerce Consulate of Buenos Aires , which promoted agriculture , education and industrialization , but there is no definitive evidence of it . The Regiment of Patricians . Buenos Aires faced the British invasions of the Río de la Plata in 1806 , when British forces led by William Carr Beresford invaded the city . Saavedra was still a civilian by then . Santiago de Liniers organized an army in Montevideo to liberate Buenos Aires , and Saavedra was among the civilians that joined Liniers , despite the lack of military instruction . His role in this battle was a minor one . Liniers successfully liberated Buenos Aires , and organized the resistance against a likely British counter - attack . All the male population of the city aged from 16 to 50 was drafted into the army , and divided in battalions by casta or origin . The largest one was the Regiment of Patricians , made up of volunteer infantrymen born in Buenos Aires . The Regiment was composed of three infantry battalions , commanded by Esteban Romero , Domingo Urien and Manuel Belgrano , who would later pass that command to Juan José Viamonte . Each battalion could elect their own leaders , including their commander , and the Regiment of Patricians elected Saavedra . The British returned in 1807 . Cornelio Saavedra marched to Montevideo , but was informed at Colonia del Sacramento of the capture of the city . The British planned to use it as a lodgement for the invasion of Buenos Aires . To give difficulty to the British operations , Saavedra ordered the withdrawal of all military hardware from Colonia , considered indefensible at that point , and mobilized those troops and equipment to Buenos Aires to fortify the city . The renewed attack to Buenos Aires took place shortly afterwards , the invading army had 8 , 000 soldiers and 18 cannons — significantly more than the 1 , 565 men , 6 cannons and 2 howitzers used for the first British invasion attempt . After an initial victory in the pens of Miserere , the invading army entered into Buenos Aires on July 5 . The British army encountered an extremely hostile population , prepared to resist to the degree that even women , children and slaves voluntarily participated in the defense . The headquarters of the Regiment of Patricians were located at the " Real Colegio de San Carlos " , where Saavedra and Juan José Viamonte stopped the column of Denis Pack and Henry Cadogan , composed of British infantry and a cannon . Pack united his remaining forces with Craufurd and resisted inside the Santo Domingo convent . Cadogan took the nearby house of Pedro Medrano , and fired from the rooftop . Both groups were finally defeated by the local soldiers . Finally , the British General John Whitelocke surrendered , ending the attack and pledging to withdraw all British forces from Montevideo . The victory against the British invasions brought forth great changes in the politics of Buenos Aires . The viceroy Sobremonte was discredited by his management of the conflict , and the Cabildo increased its influence ; as such , it removed the viceroy and appointed Liniers as replacement , an unprecedented action . The local criollos , who had limited chances of social promotion in the system of casta s , got such a chance with the increased influence of the militias . Cornelio Saavedra , head of the biggest crioolo militia , thus became a highly influential man in the politics of Buenos Aires . He resented the weak support from the Spanish monarchy to the war effort , compared with the strong one received from the cabildos of other cities in the Americas . As a result , he was loyal to the new viceroy , of French ancestry , considering him to be less subject to the internal disputes of the House of Bourbon . The mutiny of Álzaga . 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 . The May Revolution . The chance expected by Saavedra came in May 1810 , when two British ships came with news of the peninsular war . The previous January Seville was invaded , the Junta of Seville ceased working , and some members took refuge at Cadiz and Leon , the last undefeated Spanish provinces . The complete Spanish defeat seemed imminent . The viceroy tried to conceal the information by seizing all newspapers , but some of them were leaked into the possession of the revolutionaries . Colonel Viamonte called Saavedra and informed him of the news , requesting once again his military support . Saavedra agreed that it was a good context to proceed , and gave his famous answer : " Gentlemen : now I say it is not only time , but we must not waste a single hour . " Cisneros called Saavedra and Martín Rodríguez , and requested their military support in the case of a popular rebellion . They refused to give such support , and Saavedra argued that Cisneros should resign because the Junta of Seville that had appointed him did not exist anymore . As a result , Cisneros gave in to the request of Juan José Castelli : to celebrate an open cabildo , an extraordinary meeting of the noteworthy peoples of the city , and discuss the situation . The next day an armed mob , led by Antonio Beruti and Domingo French , occupied the Plaza to demand the making of the open cabildo , doubting that Cisneros would actually allow it . Saavedra addressed the crowd and assured them that the Regiment of Patricians supported their claims . The open cabildo was held on May 22 . The people discussed if Cisneros should stay in power and , in the case he was removed from office , which type of government should be established . Saavedra stayed silent for the most part , awaiting his turn to speak . The most important speakers were Bishop Benito Lue y Riega , Juan José Castelli , Ruiz Huidobro , Manuel Genaro Villota , Juan José Paso and Juan Nepomuceno de Sola , among others . Saavedra was the last one to speak , and suggested that the political control should be delegated to the Cabildo until the formation of a governing Junta , in the manner and form that the Cabildo deemed appropriate . In his speech , he pointed out the phrase : " " ( . . . ) " And there be no doubt that it is the people that confers the authority or command . " " This statement was in line with the Retroversion of the sovereignty to the people , a political concept formulated by Castelli , stating that in the absence of the rightful governor the sovereignty returned to the peoples , who had then the power to give it to someone else . Castelli aligned his position with Saavedra ' s , becoming the common position which was eventually passed with 87 votes . However , the Cabildo appointed a Junta headed by Cisneros , who would stay in power , even if under a new office . Saavedra was appointed to this Junta , as well as Castelli and two peninsulars . They made the oath of office , but the Junta was received with strong popular unrest , as it was perceived as going contrary to the result of the open cabildo . By the night , Saavedra and Castelli resigned , convincing Cisneros to do the same . The Cabildo rejected Cisneros ' resignation , and ordered the military to control the crowd and enforce the resolution of the previous day . The commanders pointed out that if they did so , their soldiers would mutiny . As the demonstration overran some sections of the cabildo , Cisneros ' resignation was finally accepted . The members of the new Junta were the result of a document with hundreds of signatures , drafted among the people in the plaza . Cornelio Saavedra was the president of this Junta . He rejected this at first , fearing that he may be suspected of promoting the revolution for personal interest , but finally accepted at Cisneros ' request . As the Junta was established on May 25 , the other cities were invited to send deputies to a constituent assembly to discuss the type of government ; on May 27 , they were invited to send deputies to join the Junta . Both invitations were contradictory , but the consequences would take place some months later . The precise authorship of the aforementioned document is unclear , and so is the origin of the composition of the Junta . Saavedra said in his memoirs that it was " the people " , without being more precise . As he protested being appointed president , he could not be part of the negotiations ( Manuel Belgrano and Mariano Moreno , other members , are reported to have been appointed without their consent as well ) . It could not have been the Regiments of Patricians either : the Junta was not a military junta ( only two of nine members were military ) , and the Regiment would not have appointed Moreno , whose rivalry with Saavedra was known . A common accepted theory considers it to be a balance between Carlotists and Alzaguists . The presidency of the Junta was the result of the high influence of the militias in general and Saavedra in particular in the local politics . From that time on , he spent most of his time at the fort of Buenos Aires , managing the government with Moreno , Belgrano and Castelli . It is likely that he left his business for this . The Primera Junta . Cornelio Saavedra was aware that the Junta would be resisted by factions still loyal to the old authorities . It was resisted locally by the Cabildo and the Royal Audiencia ; the nearby plazas of Montevideo and Paraguay did not recognize it ; and Santiago de Liniers organized a counter - revolution at Córdoba . During this early period , the Junta worked united against the royalist threats . Mariano Moreno , the secretary of war , drafted the decrees and regulations to deal with royalists . First , a decree ordered punishment for anyone attempting to generate disputes , and for those concealing conspiracies against the Junta or other people . The Royal Audiencia swore loyalty to the Regency Council , in defiance to the Junta , so they were summoned , along with former viceroy Cisneros , and exiled to Spain with the pretext that there was a threat to their lives . The Junta appointed new members for the Audiencia loyal to the revolution . Moreno organized as well the Paraguay campaign and the First Upper Peru campaign , to the plazas that resisted the Junta . The second one , headed by Francisco Ortiz de Ocampo , would move to Córdoba and attack the counter - revolution ; before marching to Upper Peru . Ocampo ' s initial orders were to capture the counter - revolutionary leaders and send them to Buenos Aires , so that they could be judged . When the counter - revolution became stronger Moreno called the Junta and proposed that the enemy leaders should be shot as soon as they were captured instead of brought to trial . The new orders were carried out by Juan José Castelli . Cornelio Saavedra supported all these measures . However , as time passed , Saavedra and Moreno distanced from each other . There was some initial distrust in the Junta towards Saavedra , but it was just the result of his desire for honours and privileges rather than an actual power struggle . When the initial difficulties were solved , Saavedra promoted an indulgent policy , while Moreno insisted on taking radical measures . For instance , the Junta discovered on October 16 that some members of the Cabildo secretly swore loyalty to the Regency Council . Moreno proposed executing them as a deterrent , and Saavedra replied that the government should promote leniency , and rejected the use of the Regiment of Patricians to carry out such executions . Saavedra prevailed , and the plotting members of the Cabildo were exiled instead of executed . Overall , Moreno was supported by " The Star " regiment , the other members of the Junta , and the activists of the May Revolution ; Saavedra was supported by the merchants , the loyals to the old regime that saw him as a lesser evil , and the Regiment of Patricians , which was the largest one . To counter the power of Saavedra , Moreno sought to modify the military balance of power by reforming the promotion rules . Up until that point , the sons of officials were automatically granted the status of cadet and were promoted just by seniority ; Moreno arranged that promotions were earned by military merits instead . However , in the short run this measure worked against him , as it antagonised members of the military who got promoted precisely because of such rules . Saavedra thought that the victory at the battle of Suipacha strengthened his perspective , as the Junta would have defeated its enemies . He considered that Moreno ' s animosity was rooted in the aforementioned mutiny of Álzaga , as Moreno took part in it . The victory was celebrated at the barracks of the Patricians , where the officer Anastasio Duarte , who was drunk , made a toast to Saavedra , as if he was the king of the Americas . Moreno drafted the " Honours Suppression decree " when he knew about it , which suppressed the ceremonies and privileges of the president of the Junta inherited from the former office of viceroy . However , Saavedra signed it without complaint . The Regiment of Patricians resented Moreno because of this , but Saavedra considered that it was a disproportionated response to a trivial issue . The arrival of the deputies called months ago generated disputes about the role they should have . Mariano Moreno supported the May 25 invitation , and wrote at the " Gazeta de Buenos Ayres " newspaper that the deputies should create a constituent assembly . Most of them , however , were aligned with the more moderated style of Saavedra . Lead by Gregorio Funes from Córdoba , they requested to join the Junta , as told in the second invitation . Saavedra and Funes thought that , with this change , Moreno would be left in a minority group , unable to advance his more radical measures . The deputies and the Junta met on December 18 , to decide what to do . Funes , who was close to Saavedra , argued that Buenos Aires had no right to appoint national authorities by itself and expect obedience from the provinces . The nine deputies voted for their incorporation , as did Larrea , Azcuénaga , Matheu and Alberti , founding members of the Junta . Saavedra declared that the incorporation was not fully legal , but that he supported it for public convenience . Only Juan José Paso voted with Moreno against the incorporation of the deputies . Left in a minority within the Junta , Moreno resigned . He was appointed to a diplomatic mission in Europe , but died in high seas , in unclear circumstances . Some historians consider that Saavedra plotted to murder Moreno , others that it was a negligence of the captain , and others that it was because of Moreno ' s frail health . The Junta Grande . With the new members , the Junta was renamed as Junta Grande . Cornelio Saavedra , who continued being president , had a clear control of it , together with Gregorio Funes . Although Moreno was no longer part of the Junta , his former supporters still plotted against Saavedra , meeting at the " " Café de Marcos " " . They accused Funes and Saavedra of being carlotists . The regiment of Domingo French attempted to mutiny , but they were discovered and defeated . It is unknown if Moreno was involved in this attempted mutiny or not . The dispute was finally settled by the Revolution of the shoreline dwellers . The mayors Tomás Grigera and Joaquín Campana , supporters of Saavedra , led the " shoreline dwellers " ( , poor people living in the outskirts of Buenos Aires ) to the Plaza , along with the Regiment of Patricians , and demanded the resignation of the morenists Hipólito Vieytes , Azcuénaga , Larrea and Rodríguez Peña , appointing the Saavedrists Juan Alagón , Atanasio Gutiérrez , Feliciano Chiclana and Campana as their replacements . It was requested as well that the government should not change its political style without voting it first . However , although the revolution was done in support of Saavedra , Saavedra denied having any involvement in it , and condemned it in his autobiography . Saavedra began to lose political power from this point . The decree of Mariano Moreno that changed the military promotions , which was never derogated , began to bear fruit , even if Moreno was not in the Junta anymore . The army became more professional , and less based on militia s . Many of the new military authorities opposed Saavedra . The political crisis increased with the unfavourable military outcomes of the war : Belgrano was defeated at the Paraguay campaign , Castelli at the Upper Peru campaign , and the capture of Montevideo became increasingly difficult with the intervention of Portuguese troops supporting it . The many members of the Junta made the internal work difficult , as all measures were discussed by all members , hindering the swift reactions needed by the war . Saavedra left Buenos Aires at this point , and headed to the Upper Peru , to take command of the Army of the North . He thought that he could be of greater help as a military leader than facing the political struggles of Buenos Aires . Fall and persecution . Saavedra was warned by fellow members of the Junta , military leaders and even the Cabildo that if he left Buenos Aires , the government would be prone to fall into a political crisis . He left anyway , convinced that he would be able to reorganize the Army of the North . The warnings were justified ; shortly after his departure , the Junta was turned into a legislative power , while the executive would be managed by the First Triumvirate . This arrangement lasted for a short time , then the Junta was abolished . The Regiment of Patricians made a mutiny against the triumvirate , but failed . Saavedra received the news eight days after arriving in Salta . He was informed that he was deposed as president of the Junta , and that he should hand the command of the Army of the North to Juan Martín de Pueyrredón . Trying to avoid returning to Buenos Aires , he requested to be relocated at Tucumán or Mendoza . He was allowed to stay at the later city , rejoining his wife and children . The press of Buenos Aires was very harsh about him , so the Triumvirate asked the governor to capture Saavedra and send him to Luján , near Buenos Aires . The order , however , was never carried out because the triumvirate was deposed by the Revolution of October 8 , 1812 , and replaced by the Second Triumvirate . The appointment of the supreme director Gervasio Antonio de Posadas fostered further hostilities towards Saavedra . Posadas was among the people banished in 1811 , and made him a trial of residence as a revenge . Saavedra , defended by Juan de la Rosa Alba , was accused of organizing the 1811 revolution , along with Campana . The sentence ruled that Saavedra should be exiled , but he avoided it by crossing the Andes with his son and seeking political asylum at Chile . Juan José Paso requested the extradition of Saavedra , but the Chilean supreme director Francisco de la Lastra denied it . Saavedra did not stay in Chile for long ; a huge royalist attack to Chile ( which would end in the Disaster of Rancagua and the royalist reconquest of Chile ) made him cross the Andes again and seek refuge at Mendoza , along with Chilean expatriates . José de San Martín , ruling Mendoza at the time , allowed him to settle in San Juan . Saavedra settled in San Juan in 1814 . He had a new son , Pedro Cornelio , and maintained a simple life growing grapes . He awaited the final decision of Posadas , but the supreme director had a political crisis at the time . The Spanish king Ferdinand VII had returned to the throne and demanded the colonies to return to their former organization , the royalists at Upper Peru were still a threat , and José Gervasio Artigas opposed Buenos Aires as well , because of its high centralism . As a result , Carlos María de Alvear became the new supreme director , who would decide the final fate of Cornelio Saavedra . Last years . Alvear ordered Saavedra to move immediately to Buenos Aires , to close the case . He arrived to the city in time , and Alvear was sympathetic to his situation . However , Alvear was forced to resign a few days later , before being able to rule the case . The Buenos Aires Cabildo , the interim government , restored Saavedra ' s military rank and honours , but the rule was abolished by Ignacio Álvarez Thomas , the following supreme director . He moved then to the countryside , to live with his brother Luis . He kept requesting to the government the restoration of his rank . Finally , the supreme director Juan Martín de Pueyrredón appointed a commission to discuss the case of Saavedra . By this time , the Congress of Tucumán had made the Argentine Declaration of Independence a couple of years before . The commission restored Saavedra with the military rank of brigadier , and ordered the payment of all the wages he did not receive during the time he was demoted . A second commission ratified the ruling . The payment was not enough to compensate Saavedra ' s losses , but he considered it a token of his restored prestige . He was appointed then to help with the protection of the frontier with the natives at Luján . Angered with the passivity of Buenos Aires during the Luso - Brazilian invasion of the Banda Oriental , Francisco Ramírez from Entre Ríos and Estanislao López from Santa Fe joined forces against the city . Saavedra fled to Montevideo , fearing that Buenos Aires would be obliterated if defeated . Ramírez and López won the battle of Cepeda , but the city was not destroyed , so Saavedra returned . He retired in 1822 , and lived with his family in the countryside . He offered his services at the beginning of the War of Brazil , despite being 65 years old , but Balcarce declined the offer . He wrote his memoirs , " Memoria autógrafa " , in 1828 . He died on March 29 , 1829 . He was taken to the cemetery by his sons . There was no state funeral at the time , because Juan Lavalle made a coup against the governor Manuel Dorrego and executed him , starting a period of civil war . Lavalle was defeated by Juan Manuel de Rosas , who was appointed governor . Once he restored peace , Rosas made a state funeral for Saavedra , on January 13 , 1830 . Legacy . As president of the first government body created after the May Revolution , Saavedra is considered the first ruler of Argentina . However , as the Spanish juntas were not a presidential system , Saavedra was not the first President of Argentina ; that office would be created a decade afterwards . The Casa Rosada , official residence of the President of Argentina , holds a bust of Saavedra at the " Hall of busts " . The Regiment of Patricians is still an active unit of the Argentine Army , currently as an air assault infantry . It is also the custodian of the Buenos Aires Cabildo , the welcoming party for visiting foreign dignitaries to Argentina and the escort and honor guard battalion for the City Government of Buenos Aires . As of September 22 , 2010 , the Regiment ' s headquarters building has been declared as a National Historical Monument by the Argentine government , on the occasion of the country ' s bicentennial year . The historiography of Cornelio Saavedra is closely related to that of Mariano Moreno . As Saavedra had a conflict with him in the Junta , the perspectives towards him complement those about Moreno . The first liberal historians praised Moreno as the leader of the Revolution and a great historical man ; Saavedra was treated either as a weak man overwhelmed by Moreno , or as a counter - revolutionary . This perspective did not acknowledge that Saavedra , as head of the Regiment of Patricians , was the most popular and influential man of the city since before the Revolution , and that he was reported to be staunch , cunning and ruthless . Subsequently , revisionist authors would formulate accusations against Moreno , depicting him as a British agent and a man of mere theoretical European ideas without a strong relation with the South American context . Saavedra is depicted instead as a popular " caudillo " , a predecessor of José de San Martín and Juan Manuel de Rosas . This perspective did not acknowledge that the wealthy citizens were aligned with Saavedra against Moreno , that Saavedra himself was wealthy and aristocratic , and that the 1811 revolution made no requests of a social nature , save for the removal of Morenist forces from the Junta .