It should be explained, concerning the first words of this address, that among the reinforcements of Beauregard's army were Van Dorn's troops, who had fought at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, a battle which the Rebels called Elkhorn; and concerning the closing words, that on the very day when this address was issued, the Rebels fled from Yorktown before the advance of McClellan! General Bragg also made an address to his soldiers, saying: "You will encounter the enemy in your chosen position, strong by nature and improved by art, away from his main support and reliance--gunboats and heavy batteries--and for the first time in this war, with nearly equal numbers." This remark about equal numbers was certainly untrue, since at Shiloh the Rebel army on the first day actually outnumbered the Union troops. And now at Corinth it is hardly possible to believe that the Rebels had anything like a hundred thousand men. Forty-seven thousand is the estimate given by one careful writer, and sixty-five thousand by another. There really seems to be no good reason for believing that Beauregard had at most more than two-thirds as many soldiers as Halleck, and there was no prospect of his getting any more, for McClellan's huge army was menacing Richmond, and all available Southern troops were needed there to cope with it. Of course, Halleck's men were still comparatively new to war, and it would have been injudicious to hurry them forward against Beauregard's entrenched position. But under another leader they doubtless might have been conducted with certain success against the foe in half the time that Halleck took, and with far more satisfactory results than those achieved by him. Shiloh was fought on April 6th and 7th. For twenty days thereafter Halleck was preparing to pursue the enemy. His army really did need much re-organization. Sherman's Division, for example, had suffered so much that its four brigades were now consolidated into three, commanded respectively by Morgan L. Smith, John A. McDowell, and J. W. Denver. Supplies were plentiful, being brought up the river. But there was a scarcity of wagon trains for the march inland to Corinth, and much confusion occurred on this account. However, by April 14th Halleck decided that some move must be made, so he sent Sherman to break the Memphis and Charleston railroad at Bear Creek; which was done. Then Halleck began his advance upon Corinth. And such an advance! If at Shiloh the army had lain for weeks without intrenchments, here it was not halted for a day without elaborate fortifications. The troops literally burrowed their way across the country. It took, said the Rebels, six weeks to move fifteen miles; and the statement is not far from truth. On May 3d, General Pope's Division won a victory of some importance at Farrington, five miles northwest of Corinth, and the cavalry pushed on to Glendale and cut the Rebel line of communication there.