1580667 The starting point of the great war between the states, 1861; (add.info.: The starting point of the great war between the states. A crowd gathers in front of the capitol building at the time of the inauguration of Jefferson Davis as the first President of the Confederate States of America, at Montgomery, Alabama, February 18, 1861. Although he took personal charge of the Confederate war plans he was unable to find a strategy to defeat the Union and allowed the Confederate economy to collapse.); Universal History Archive/UIG; out of copyright.