On May 1st, 1862, General Schenck's Brigade was marched from Moorefield to Monroeville, Virginia. companies D, E and G of the 55th Ohio were left behind. On May 3rd, whilst the brigade was crossing the Potomac River, several men were drowned by deep water. The brigade was halted so that a make-shift bridge could be built. On May 6th, the brigade was ordered to force march to the town of McDowall to aid General Robert Milroy's brigade there because Confederate General "Stonewall" Jackson's army was headed to that place. Schenck's Brigade reached the town after having marched thirty-four miles in twenty-three hours.On May 8th was the battle of McDowall. Jackson's fourteen thousand rebels pushed in Milroy's outposts and then took up a defensive position on a hill. General Scheck took overall command of both Union brigades and, although outnumbered, decided to attack the Confederates. The Union attack was repulsed with the losses of 498 rebels to Schenck's 256 casualties. The 55th Ohio was posted as a reserve during the battle and received no casualties.
William Keesy of Company I, 55th Ohio gives an account of the retreat: "Lieutenant (R. F.) Patrick of Co. I with eight comrades was sent back on the pike and established a picket post. All seemed to be going well; night was just coming on when the man on duty called to the lieutenant and said there were three horsemen coming down the pike from the direction held by the enemy. The lieutenant, of course geve the matter some attention, the men intuitively getting their guns in readiness for what might occur. It was clearly manifest that some cavalry were galloping down upon them. The men begged the lieutenant to let them fire to check their charge and also give notice to the camp that the enemy was around. 'No, no' said the lieutenant, 'no firing until you get orders. Perhaps they are some of our men.' Whereupon he rushed out on the pike, by which time the galloping horesmen were close on to him, and with frantic flourishes of his sword, he cired out:
'Hold on, gentlemen! Hold on, gentlemen!'
He was answered by the report of half a dozen carbines and a fearful volley of oaths from the Southern gentlemen. In his amazement the lieutenat turned and ran down an embankment where the brave horsemen could not follow, calling out, 'Follow me, boys; follow me!' and forgetting to order them to fire at all.
Fortunately, the bullets did not take effect. Two of the lieutenant's men refused to run and were hurried away by cavalrymen to Libby Prison... The lieutenant and the six men left came into camp in a very sorry plight; one had lost his gun, one had shot away his remrod, another lost his hat, and as a whole they looked as though they had seen enough war to last a whole lifetime."
By May 13th, General John C. Fremont, with 12,000 men arrived at Franklin and now commanded the whole force. The regiment then spent its time in erecting telegraph poles. By the 26th and 27th the regiment had a couple of brushes with the enemy losing four men (1 wounded, 3 captured). Schenck's Brigade was ordered to march towards the Shenendoah Valley, arriving there on May 29th.
Sources:
Trials and Triumphs: A Record of the Fifty-Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry by Hartwell Orsborne, 1904, A.C. Clurg & Co., Chicago.
War, As Viewed From The Ranks by William Keesy, 1898.