In the throes of the first war for independence Carrera was hardly able to maintain himself, and a civil revolution had as much to do with his overthrow as his military misfortunes. O'Higgins, even while supported by San Martin's army of Argentine veterans, held control by a very precarious grip. During 1819 and 1820 there were no serious troubles because attention was absorbed by the war against Peru and over Cochrane's naval victories, but no sooner had San Martin left, than symptoms of discontent again appeared on the surface. Complaints against the arbitrary and corrupt practices of O'Higgins's ministers were loud and unrestrainable; the aristocracy opposed his measures, and the very senate he had appointed to assist in the government openly obstructed him. Theoretically a radical, he called a national congress to establish the new nation on a democratic basis. However, even his own nominees moved slowly, while Coquimbo, the northern, and Concepcion, the southern capital, were hotbeds of opposition. In the latter part of 1822 General Freire, the hero of the campaign which had redeemed southern Chile, took the initiative at Concepcion. The southern provinces declared against O'Higgins; Freire prepared to advance on Santiago. Coquimbo followed--an old Carrera partisan assuming the governorship. The northern revolutionists invaded the centre, while news came that Freire was rapidly coming up from the south. In January, 1823, O'Higgins handed his resignation to a committee of Santiago citizens, who appointed a temporary junta and summoned a congress. A few days later General Freire landed at Valparaiso with sixteen hundred soldiers, and on his advancing to the neighbourhood of the capital, congress very prudently offered him the dictatorship. The aristocracy and the people soon found that they had gained nothing in this exchange of masters. After a short spasm of reform, the public finances fell into horrible disorder, while the ruling clique enriched itself at the expense of the treasury.