Excerpt from Fiftieth Anniversary of the Great Battle of Shiloh, Held at Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., April 6, 1912, by the National Association of Survivors: Oration by Samuel M. Howard of Gettysburg, South Dakota

Prior to the movement up the Tennessee River, the enemy had taken time by the forelock and had established a strong defensive line of fortifications, stretching from Columbus, on the Mississippi, eastward through Fts. Heiman, Henry and Donelson to Bowling Green and thence onward to the East, protecting their lines of railway lead ing from Columbus, Hickman and Memphis to Bowling Green and onward to Virginia, and he had likewise established the military head. Quarters for this region at Bowling, Ky.

But our military successes at Fts. Heiman, Henry and Donelson, together with the evacuation of Nashville, had completely severed this line of defense and compelled the enemy to fall backward to the Corinth line of railway, stretching from various points on the Missis sippi eastward to Corinth and onward to the Atlantic.

From this military situation, it may readily be seen that the paramount reason for this movement onward from Ft. Henry to this point, was to capture Corinth, sever in twain this new line of defense, disrupt the entire railway system centering at Corinth, and Open the way to the further unprotected Vitals of the enemy.

And this is precisely what led onward to the great con¿ict here.

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