The increased militarization of the city and the relaxation of the system of castas allowed him, as other criollo peoples, to become a prominent figure in local politics.

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.

Saavedra marched to Montevideo, but was informed at Colonia del Sacramento of the capture of the city of British, who intended to use it as a staging point for their planned invasion of Buenos Aires.

To frustrate further 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.

[14] The renewed attack to Buenos Aires took place shortly afterwards, the British force consisting of 8,000 soldiers and 18 cannons—significantly more than the 1,565 men and 8 cannons used for the first invasion attempt.

[15] The British 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 repulsed a British column under the command of Denis Pack and Henry Cadogan, composed of numerous infantrymen and a cannon.

Pack subsequently united his remaining troops with Craufurd's men and made a last stand inside the Santo Domingo convent.

[17] 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.

[18] The outbreak of the Peninsular War in Spain and the capture of the King Ferdinand VII by the French generated a political crisis in the Spanish colonies in America.

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.

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.

[26] 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.

[28] 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.

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.

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.

[38] 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.

[50] 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 America’s king.

Mariano Moreno supported the May 25 invitation, and wrote at the Gazeta de Buenos Ayres newspaper that the deputies should create a constituent assembly.

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 mayors Tomás Grigera and Joaquín Campana, supporters of Saavedra, led the "shoreline dwellers" (Spanish: orilleros, 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.

[60] 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.

Juan José Paso requested the extradition of Saavedra, but the Chilean supreme director Francisco de la Lastra denied it.

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.

[66] 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.

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.

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.

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.

[69] 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.