to the railroad, and Ragsdale chose to use true compass headings. The competition is still evident today in the angles at which some streets meet in the city. The intersecting area has been described as "having been formed by some giant who playfully gathered up a handful of triangles and dropped them at the junction of two railroads." Eventually the continued development of the railroads led to an influx of railroad workers who overruled the others in the city and left "Meridian" on the station permanently, and the town was officially incorporated as Meridian on February 10, 1860. Meanwhile, the Vicksburg and Montgomery Railroad (which would later become part of the Southern Railway of Mississippi) continued to progress eastward out of Jackson, Mississippi. It appeared that Ball and Ragsdale had incorrectly anticipated the location of the railroad junction. The railroad was planning to cross the Mobile and Ohio Railroad at Enterprise, Mississippi, but railroad administration could not obtain cooperation from Enterprise officials. Businessmen in Meridian were more than eager for this economic opportunity and convinced Southern to cross there instead. After persuasion from Ball and other citizens of the city, William Crosby Smedes, the president of the Southern Railway agreed with the owners of the Mobile and Ohio on keeping the name Meridian, as which the city has been known ever since. Civil War When the American Civil War began in 1861, Meridian was a small village with several stores and hotels and two churches, one Baptist and one Methodist, which shared a Sunday School service. An academy had also been built, and the school was in full operation. The town's strategic position at the railroad junction led to the construction of a Confederate arsenal, military hospital, and prisoner-of-war stockade, as well as the headquarters for a number of state offices. The Meridian Invincibles were established on May 1, 1861, under the command of W.F. Crumpton and William Spinks. On May 21, the Governor ordered the unit, which consisted of sixty-three members, to proceed to Corinth and go into camp under the command of Major General Charles Clark. The Invincibles eventually became Company H of the 14th Mississippi Infantry and would later see action at the Battle of Fort Donelson. They, along with 7000 confederate soldiers, would become prisoners of war. On February 19, 1863, a train with one tender & four cars left the Meridian depot at 3:00 A.M.