After being reinforced by troops commanded by Brigadier General Edward Johnson, Jackson advanced towards Milroy and Schenck's encampment at McDowell.

Confederate resistance to Banks' advance consisted of a small army commanded by Major General Thomas J.

Faulty intelligence led Jackson to believe that only a small portion of Shields' force was at Kernstown, so he ordered an assault.

[4] After the retreat from Kernstown, Jackson's force remained in the southern Shenandoah Valley awaiting orders and preparing for battle.

In April, Jackson received orders to keep the Union forces in the Valley occupied with the goal of preventing them from joining McClellan's army near Richmond.

Milroy reached the town of McDowell in early May, and was reinforced by another 2,500 men under Brigadier General Robert C. Schenck on 8 May.

[11] Jackson and Johnson moved to the top of the hill to have a point from which they could observe the Union position with the hopes of finding a path suitable for a flanking attack.

[12] Jackson did not bring his artillery as he thought the steep slopes of Sitlington's Hill would be too difficult to move it there.

[14] The 12th Georgia had been posted in an exposed position in front of the main Confederate line, and made first contact with the Union assault.

The Georgians were in an exposed position and at a disadvantage carrying outdated smoothbore muskets while Milroy's troops had Enfield rifles.

Towards the center of the Confederate line, the 12th Georgia, bloodied and out of ammunition, was forced to withdraw and was replaced by Campbell's 48th Virginia Infantry.

While the added weight of the 32nd Ohio forced the 48th Virginia to vacate its advanced position quickly, the outnumbered Union assailants broke off the assault.

Jackson's pursuit reached as far as the vicinity of Franklin, but the Confederates gave up the chase and fell back to McDowell on 13 May.

[14] Edward Johnson was shot in the ankle and disabled from action for the next year; he returned in May 1863 to command Jackson's former division.

[22] Despite retreating from the field, some sources have argued that the Union forces achieved a draw by fighting Jackson to essentially a standstill.

However, the defeat of the Union force and Milroy and Schenck's withdrawal from the Shenandoah Valley provided the Confederates with a strategic victory.

[3] Jackson would later summarize the battle in the single sentence "God blessed our arms with victory at McDowell yesterday."