Audiencia of Quito. But only in August 1809 did the group find their opportunity, using Napoleon's invasion of Spain to justify the creation of an autonomous government in the Audiencia. While declaring loyalty to King Ferdinand VII of Spain, they took power from the appointed Spanish representatives. On the morning of August 10 Salinas went to the barracks he commanded and convinced the troops that it was their patriotic duty to resist the French usurpation. He took three battalions into the streets to start the revolt and gain effective power in the capital. Salinas was given the rank of colonel by the Junta, while the Marques de Selva Alegre, somewhat forcedly, was given overall command of the government and the small army. It was a poorly organized and ill-equipped group. The noble (titled) leaders were uncomfortable with the radical turn the revolt had taken, as they had wanted better treatment from Madrid, not a complete severing of ties from the mother country. It took the royal forces less than two months to organize a counterrevolution. On October 13 the Marques de Selva Alegre offered his resignation to the Junta and was replaced by his kinsman the Count of Selva Florida, who started talks with the deposed Count Ruiz de Castilla, the royal representative of Spain. The viceroy of Peru sent troops under the command of Manuel de Arredondo. They arrived in Quito on November 24, promptly took over the city and returned Ruiz de Castilla to power. Salinas was imprisoned on December 4 and taken to the military barracks, charged with treason. He spent the next eight months imprisoned in the military dungeons with other "conspirators". His wife and daughters were under house arrest, but arranged for a group of patriots to try to free her husband. On August 2, 1810, while the people of Quito were trying to save them, the imprisoned men were butchered by the troops as they lay in their cells. His wife and daughters were taken to be hanged in the central plaza, but the nuns of the Convent of Concepcion intervened and gave them refuge. Salinas's youngest daughter Maria del Carmen, who was born while he was in captivity, married Manuel de Ascásubi, who also took part in the independence process and helped in the formation of the young Ecuadorian nation. The family was persecuted and their holdings expropriated until the War of Independence