Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros
The news of the fall of the Junta of Seville reached Buenos Aires in May 1810. With both the king of Spain and the Junta removed of power, many people thought that Cisneros had no legitimacy to govern, starting the May Revolution. Cisneros tried to calm down the population, to no avail. He called the commanders of the local armies and requested their support, but they denied it. Cisneros was ultimately forced to allow an open cabildo, which would discuss what to do. Although those meetings were usually composed of the wealthiest population, the army and a group of rioters plotted to prevent the entry of many wealthy people and allow common people instead.
Domingo Matheu
The May Revolution began the Argentine War of Independence, which was complicated by the lack of weapons in the country. Without enough resources to buy them, the Primera Junta established armories. The first director, Juan Taragona, was soon replaced by Matheu. Working alongside German gunsmiths as Juan Frye and Fernando Lamping, he directed the creation of several muskets and some pieces of artillery. The armory of Buenos Aires, located at the site of the modern Palace of Justice, had only 90 employees, including seven slaves and seven natives. They had limited technical knowledge, but managed to build and repair nearly three hundred muskets and a hundred of carbines. Matheu gave financial support to the armory with his own wealth. Eduard Holmberg was appointed director in 1813, replacing Matheu, but Matheu kept working for the armory anyway. He supervised as well the armory of the Tucumán Province. He directed later the manufacture of military uniforms.