In 1810, the May Revolution forced the Spanish to abandon Buenos Aires, but they held on to the Banda Oriental (present-day Uruguay), as Spain moved the headquarters of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata to Montevideo.

At the beginning of April 1811, the revolutionary José Gervasio Artigas returned to the Banda Oriental with approximately 180 men provided by the Government of Buenos Aires.

The Governor of Montevideo, Francisco Javier de Elío, appointed frigate-captain José Posadas [es] as the head of the forces loyal to Spain.

Posadas installed his headquarters at San Isidro Labrador de Las Piedras near Montevideo, to provoke a decisive battle against the revolutionaries.

Some historians consider the victory in the Battle of Las Piedras as crucial for the survival of the revolution in Uruguay and Argentina, after the defeats of General Manuel Belgrano in Paraguay and Paraná.