Whether or not Lavalleja was present in the household, Monterroso ran the family's affairs and would actively aid the resistance to the Portuguese and the government of Fructuoso Rivera.

[1] She, along with Melchora Cuenca [es] and Cayetana Leguizamón, represent the involvement of women in the early history of modern Uruguay.

[4] On 21 October 1817, Monterroso married Juan Antonio Lavalleja, then still a divisional commander under Colonel Fructuoso Rivera, in the Uruguayan village of Florida.

the Lavallejas were captured by the Portuguese under Carlos Frederico Lecor in Salto and imprisoned in Rio de Janeiro until the end of the war.

[1] In July 2017, Rosana Carrete, Director of Cabildo Historical Museum in Montevideo, debuted an exhibit dedicated to the women of the Uruguayan revolution, including Monterroso.