In 1815, the Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, Ignacio Álvarez Thomas, assigned Bustos to the Army of the North. However, Bustos did not participate in the Battle of Sipe-Sipe because the governor of Salta, Martín Miguel de Güemes, prevented him from reaching the army, suspecting Bustos had been sent to depose him.
