San Martín did not take hostages or ask for ransoms, but rather he instructed his people to avoid further conflicts and to try to restore peaceful relations with the royalists. Zabala requested assistance for his wounded soldiers, which San Martín provided and he invited Zabala to share a large breakfast, which he accepted. San Martín was aware that the new enlightened ideas at stake in the Napoleonic Wars influenced many of the Spanish military, and expected to convince Zabala that absolutism was a bad cause to defend. He succeeded, as Zabala joined the patriot forces under San Martín's command during his administration in Mendoza.