The Battle of McDowell was the second engagement of Confederate Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson's Shenandoah Valley Campaign. After being defeated by Union forces at Kernstown, just south of Winchester, on March 23, 1862, Jackson withdrew south in the Valley. In early May, bolstered by reinforcements, he moved west into the mountains to take on Union Gens. Robert Milroy and Robert Schenck, who had been advancing from western Virginia. Stonewall's troops seized Sitlington's Hill in McDowell on May 8, and held it despite several Union assaults. After the battle, Milroy and Schenck retreated north. Jackson returned to the main Valley, where he won four additional victories over Union forces before his legendary campaign ended in mid-June.