Beginning at about two o'clock on the afternoon of August 9, Confederate batteries, including some on Cedar Mountain, exchanged fire with Union artillery. Confederate infantry moved into formation to charge the Union guns and then suffered immensely while charging, while Union infantry also arrived in strength. Instead of retreating in the face of his old Shenandoah Valley nemesis, however, Banks decided to stand and fight. As the Confederates attacked, Confederate general Charles S. Winder of the Stonewall Brigade fell with a mortal wound. Union troops, meanwhile, pressed the Confederate center and right, but their advance petered out.
The moment of crisis came at six o'clock in the evening, when the brigade of Union general Samuel W. Crawford attacked the Confederate left flank and began to roll up the entire Confederate line. The fighting became so desperate that Jackson rushed in and attempted to rally the men himself, cutting a dramatic figure as he waved his sword in the air with one hand and a Confederate battle flag with the other. Crawford's men withdrew under the pressure of the now-reinvigorated Confederate troops. Confederate general A. P. Hill's division launched a counterattack, pushing Banks's men back a bit as night fell. The following day the two sides separated slightly, but stood close enough for light skirmishing to occur throughout the day. The armies remained in place until August 11, when Jackson began to withdraw toward Orange.
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