While encamped, the Yankee cavalry were able to dash up and capture a few wagons, but the Brigades of General Battle and General Cook were double-quicked back, and ran about two miles in pursuit of them, but of course the infantrymen couldn’t catch up with cavalry who made good their escape. The Confederates had secured over three thousand horses and over twenty-five hundred head of cattle on their expedition, so a few wagons were of little consequence. At about dusk, the enemy threw a few shells over their camp from the Maryland heights. The following morning, the men remained encamped in the same location. Their camp was on Swan's farm near Big Spring, between Leesburg and the Potomac River. The enemy's cavalry crossed the river that evening and had a slight skirmish with the Confederate cavalry, but everything was quiet that evening in camp.
The men broke camp at about 7:00 A.M. on July 16, 1864, passing through Leesburg and then took the road leading to Winchester. Near Purcellville, at about three o’clock in the afternoon, the Yankee Cavalry who were continuing their pursuit of the Confederates, attacked from the Hillsboro Road, shelling the pike heavily and capturing about thirty wagons of Battle’s Brigade. These were men of the 21st New York Cavalry and their sudden attack wreaked havoc amongst the teamsters. The New Yorkers wildly chased the Confederate wagons, ordering the teamsters to halt and shooting the lead horses of those who refused. For three miles the Federals raced after the wagons. The New Yorkers, though few in number, continued westward, passing overturned wagons in ditches and abandoned ambulances loaded with sick and wounded Confederates. As the Federals neared the large herd of cattle, they were met by a barrage of artillery informing them that their unopposed romp was over. General Rodes hurried the Brigades of Battle and Gordon to the scene, but although the horsemen made good their escape, the Confederate Infantry successfully captured two pieces of their artillery and some prisoners as well as recapturing all but five or six of the wagons previously taken. After everything was quiet, they continued to march on to Snickers’ Gap and camped on top of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The men took up the line of march at 7:00 A.M. on July 17, 1864. They crossed the Shenandoah River at Snicker’s Ferry and then continued on the Winchester Pike for about two miles. They then turned right on the Charleston Road and after marching about eight miles that day, they went into camp near Mr. Allen's which was near Wickliffe Church, where they expected to stay two or three days. In the morning, the men enjoyed the much needed rest. Some of the men went foraging, obtaining milk and other ordinary items which now seemed like luxuries to the men. However, in the early afternoon, cannonading was heard in the direction of the river. It was soon discovered that the Federal Cavalry was crossing the Shenandoah River near Cool Springs. Between two and three that afternoon, the wagon trains moved off towards Berryville and the troops towards the river. Soon after the teamsters left the troops, heavy cannonading and musketry was heard on the river, confirming that an engagement was at hand.
Earlier that day, the Union Army had reached Snicker’s Gap and had formulated plans to try and disrupt the Confederate retreat by crossing an attacking force downriver. It was assumed that there were only pickets left at the crossings with the bulk of Early’s Army still on the move. The assignment fell to Union Colonel Joseph Thoburn. He took his five thousand man detachment and crossed the Shenandoah River at Island Ford. They successfully drove in the Confederate pickets of General John B. Gordon, but the alarm was sounded and Generals Wharton’s and Rodes’ Divisions were moved to assault the Yankee bridgehead. Thoburn advanced his three brigades in two lines and posted them on the so-called “Westwood” farm, the first behind a bluff some seventy-five yards from the river, the second behind a low stone fence along a road on the riverbank. The terrain gradually sloped upward from these positions to an adjacent ridge on which “Cool Springs” farm soon bristled with Rodes’ men.
Rodes’ Division reached the vicinity of the battlefield shortly after 4:00 P.M. and formed 3000 troops to the left of General Wharton’s men, along a road out of sight of the Federals. From right to the left, his Brigades were positioned as follows: Cox, Grimes, Cook, and then Battle’s on the extreme left under the command of Colonel Samuel Pickens of the 12th Alabama Infantry.
The 5th Alabama Infantry Regiment entered the battle with the following officers in command:
Major: Eugene Blackford
Adjutant: Charles I. Pegues
Sergeant Major: Shelby W. Chadwick
Regimental Color Sergeant: Basil M. Hanks
Company A Barbour Grays (1st Lieutenant George A. Thomas)
Company B Talladega Artillery (1st Sergeant Pinkney L. McCall)
Company C Monroe Guards (3rd Sergeant Samuel H. Dailey)
Company D Greensboro Guards (1st Lieutenant Edwin Pompey Jones)
Company E Sumter Rifle Guard (Captain George W. Reed)
Company F Cahaba Rifles (1st Sergeant Charles B. Sturdevant)
Company G Livingston Rifles (1st Sergeant Robert Hatton)
Company H Pickensville Blues (2nd Lieutenant Christopher B. Clark)
Company I Grove Hill Guards (Captain Simeon T. Woodard)
Company K Hayneville Guards (Captain Girard Cook)
Advancing through the park-like woods of large oak trees, Rodes turned the formation slightly left and dressed ranks to emerge from the trees in perfect alignment. The division engaged the enemy with the Sharpshooters initially and quickly forced the Federals from their positions on the upper plateau of the floodplain. The ease with which the sharpshooters manoeuvred and advanced placed the Yankees at a distinct disadvantage. They quickly enveloped the Union right flank and Thoburn moved two of his regiments to counter that threat. Shortly after these regiments deployed, Rodes attacked. Concealed by the upland ridge, the men advanced to within three hundred yards of the road along the river. In front of the Union right, a wood lot further concealed Confederate movements. The low land on the west side of the upland ridge provided Rodes with an open area in which to make his final dispositions for his attack less than half a mile from Thoburn’s position. The attack was en echelon from left to right with Battle’s Brigade leading the way, passing through the swale of Rodes’ Run. Suddenly the entire division came into view of the Federal lines. Rodes advanced his four brigades abreast in double or triple ranks. They came up out of the swale striking the Union right flank, panicking Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Young’s Brigade of dismounted cavalry, who fled without firing a shot. Those men retreated through their second battle line which was behind a stone wall by the river and continued out into the river where a number drowned. Bodies of these cavalrymen would be pulled from the river downstream for days.
Battle’s Brigade pursued them, halting on a bluff overlooking the floodplain to fire into the routed and demoralized Yankees who were crossing the river. The men noticed a stone wall perpendicular to the Union battle line and they quickly dashed for the wall and the cover it offered. From there they poured a terrible enfilading fire into the Union line, but the Federal line was able to make an orderly retreat under cover of their artillery, which had just opened fire from the other side of the river.
Within thirty minutes of the appearance of Rodes’ Division the entire advanced line of the Federals had disintegrated, and hundreds of the second line blue-coated troops were attempting to flee into the water. Large numbers of wounded Federals were abandoned on the field as the survivors rushed to escape. The remaining Yankees took up a position behind the stone wall by the river. Many of them fled directly across the river, some being shot down by Rodes’ men as they tried to climb the slippery slope on the other side. The Federal soldiers behind the wall stalled the Confederate frontal attack, but Rodes’ men on their right flank seeped down to the riverbank only to be repulsed by Yankee re-enforcements sent from the left. Rodes’ men fell back to the wall perpendicular to the Union line. A group rallied at the junction of that wall with the river wall, but a detachment from the 116th Ohio crept up along the river wall and fired point blank into the men, expediting the retreat of those not killed or wounded. Although the rest of the Union VI Corps infantry remained on the east bank of the river, their artillery roared into action and helped save Thoburn’s force from further damage. While Union Batteries on the far left of the Federal line, kept Breckenridge’s troops pinned down and limited their ability to attack or threaten Thoburn’s left flank, the 1st Rhode Island Artillery joined Upshur Battery on the bluffs overlooking the Shenandoah River and the veteran gunners quickly opened a deadly fire with canister and case shot, greatly aiding Thoburn’s efforts to check Rodes’ advance. In addition to the physical impact of the Union artillery, it provided a boost to morale for the besieged veterans who were clinging to the stone wall. However the distance between the Union and Confederate lines was so short that shells from the Federal batteries fell among the bluecoats and injured a few of Thoburn’s men. General Rodes moved the men back to a less exposed position and continued a steady fire against the Yankee troops at the wall. The engagement lasted until after dark, at which time the remaining Federals crossed the river. What had been a rear action engagement on the Confederate retreat to the Shenandoah Valley had cost the Federals over four hundred men in killed, wounded, and missing. The Confederates had lost about the same number, Rodes’ Division losing three hundred, about a hundred of which were from Battle’s Brigade.