Educated in Spain, at the University of Seville, Azcuénaga began his military career in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata and became a member of the Primera Junta, the first autonomous government of modern Argentina.

He was shortly exiled because of his support to the minister Mariano Moreno, and returned to Buenos Aires when the First Triumvirate replaced the Junta.

Miguel de Azcuénaga was sent to Spain at an early age, to complete his elementary studies in Málaga and then attend the University of Seville.

[1] He began his military career in the artillery of Buenos Aires, during the Spanish–Portuguese War, staying in that unit until the signing of the First Treaty of San Ildefonso that incorporated the Banda Oriental to the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.

As Spain was fighting in the American Revolutionary War against Great Britain, it was suspected that the British might launch an offensive against the Spanish colonies.

Supported by the viceroy Nicolás Antonio de Arredondo, he collected $8,000 and provided 500 cattle to mine rocks from the Martín García Island for this work.

[5] The Peninsular War in Spain, along with the capture of the king Ferdinand VII and the fall of the Junta of Seville, escalated political disputes in Buenos Aires that led to the May Revolution.

Several criollos thought that the viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros, appointed by the fallen Junta, did not have legitimacy, and requested an open cabildo to discuss it.

A common accepted theory considers it to be a balance between Carlotists, Alzaguists, the military and the clergy; besides being from the armed forces, Azcuénaga had close ties with the rich people of the city.

[11] The Assembly of the Year XIII replaced the Triumvirate with a unipersonal head of state, the Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata.

[12] The defeat of Buenos Aires in 1820 at the Battle of Cepeda, part of the Argentine Civil Wars, led to the closing of the Congress.

[14] In 1828, aged 74, he took part in the peace negotiations with the Empire of Brazil after the end of the Argentine-Brazilian War, which led to the creation of the state of Uruguay.

The official decree stated that "the noteworthy services he gave to the nation at all times the brigadier general Miguel de Azcuénaga, and particularly in the days of the glorious independence, require a demonstration that takes to posterity the name of this patriot, and keeps the memory of his civic virtues".