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HEADQUARTERS SIXTH U. S. INFANTRY,
Camp at crossing near Sharpsburg, Md., September 25, 1862.
ACTING ASSISTANT ADJUTANT-GENERAL,
Headquarters Second Brigade, Sykes' Division.
SIR: I have the honor to report, in obedience to instructions received, the part taken from the 16th to the 20th instant by the Sixth Regiment of Infantry and Company G, First Infantry, attached to the regiment, and forming a part of the Second Brigade of General Sykes' division.
The regiment was on picket duty from the evening of the 16th to the 17th. On the following morning I received orders to march. Made a short march, and camped near a ford on the Potomac River. On the 20th, as soon as all the regiment had crossed the river, I followed after the Second and Tenth U. S. Infantry, then a short distance ahead. About a mile from the ford, Major C. S. Lovell, of the Tenth U. S. Infantry, commanding the Second Brigade, gave the command to halt and load. This being done, the brigade was formed in line of battle in the wood, the right resting on the road. We remained in this position for about thirty minutes, when I received an order to fall back in line to the brow of the hills near the river. After taking this position in line, I ordered a company to cover the front of the regiment as skirmishers. While acting thus, the enemy's pickets were advancing very fast, supported by a battery, cavalry, and a large force of infantry. This fact being known to the commanding officer of the brigade, I soon after received an order through his adjutant to fall back across the river,which was done in good order. The casualties between these periods were 2 men wounded.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
LEVI C. BOOTES,
Captain Sixth Infantry, Commanding Regiment.
Source: OFFICIAL RECORDS: Series 1, Vol 19, Part 1 (Antietam - Serial 27) , Pages 364 - 365