one o'clock on Monday, February 18, 1861
The old Constitution had been reënacted with no essential change . The new President had even insisted that the Provisional Congress retain the old flag as their emblem of nationality with only a new battle flag for use in case of war . The Congress over-ruled him at this point with an emphasis which they meant as a rebuke to his tendency to cling to the hope of reconciliation . It was exactly one o'clock on Monday , February 18 , 1861 , that Jefferson Davis rose between the towering pillars of the State Capitol in Montgomery and began his inaugural address . It was careful , moderate , statesmanlike , and a model of classic English . The closing sentence swept the crowd . `` It is joyous in the midst of perilous times to look thus upon a people united in heart , whose one purpose of high resolve animates and actuates the whole ; where the sacrifices to be made are not weighed in the balance against honor , and right , and liberty and equality . ''