The two sides engaged on 10 April, with the Third Brigade driving the Rebels back about a mile before being stopped. The 43rd Indiana did not arrive on the battlefield until after midnight on the 11th, just in time to join a night battle—a rare event during the Civil War—in which Shelby's Southerners assaulted the Federals, without success. Inconclusive skirmishing continued over the next two days. Believing that Steele intended to capture Washington, Price withdrew most of his forces in the direction of that town; when he realized that the Federals were heading for Camden, instead, he returned to Prairie D'Ane and launched a counterattack on Thayer's division (which was serving as Steele's rearguard) on the 13th. After a four-hour contest, the Confederates were forced to withdraw, and Steele proceeded to occupy Camden after a brief skirmish with Confederate forces there.