The moderate Conservatives were Conservatives in name only, and did not support the "saquarema" ideology and leadership. During the years following 1857, successive cabinets quickly collapsed, unable to muster a majority in the Chamber of Deputies, as the two Conservative wings undercut each other in a fight for dominance. The Emperor asked Caxias to head a new cabinet on 2 March 1861. Among his ministers were José Maria da Silva Paranhos (later Viscount of Rio Branco), whom Caxias had met and befriended during the Platine War while serving as secretary to Paraná.