1864 Civil War Letter Supporting Bravery of " NEGRO TROOPS " - Battle of Crater

Description

1864 Civil War Love Letter
Apparently from an Officer, Speaks of
BRAVERY OF "Negro Troops"
At Battle of the Crater
The romantic letter, which is dated August 9, 1864 and penned on laid paper, begins simply with "Dear Julie." It focuses on a number of topics, the first being his observations of a failure by The Herald (newspaper) correspondent to correctly write about the bravery of (in his words) "the negro troops" at the Battle of the Crater.
It can be inferred that the writer was likely a white officer within the 29th or other white troops close to action at the battle on July 30th, 1864 (which we know as
"Battle of the Crater")
, since he speaks of being an eyewitness to what happened.  Many of the Union losses at that battle were suffered by Ferrero's division of the United States Colored Troops.
He says, "The Army of the Potomac still moves not.  And the only reason given is that they can't move ahead and dislike moving to the rear.  I notice that the correspondents of the Herald are making out that the negro troops are a failure, from the failure of the assault the 30th... But you must not believe over one quarter of what they write against them, for I believe my eyes are as good as the Herald's correspondent's and I know that his eyesight or his pen told some awful falsehoods about that assault, which was bad enough when the truth was told."
The writer also speaks at length about his recently joining the Freemasons -- something which was apparently a concern of his lady friend.
He then goes into the topic of the "Copperheads" -- a controversial group of anti-war "peace democrats" during the Civil war.
He says, "I feel sorry for the Copperheads, that they will allow themselves to be so misguided in regards to slavery.  I hope something will happen to convince them of their error before long."
Unfortunately, the letter is not signed.  It is not clear whether it ends on the fourth page (which it appears to, as he was trying to squeeze as much onto that page as possible with small handwriting), or whether he added another page that has gone missing, leaving the precise identity of the writer unclear.  But what he had to say as an eyewitness at the Battle of the Crater is of historical significance.
A beautiful letter!
A true Civil War sleuth may be able to pinpoint who wrote this letter, based on various hints -- his probably being an officer at that battle, possibly going on to marry a lady named Julie who, according to the letter, was a friend of two other ladies whose names he mentions, etc.
The letter is beautifully displayed, professionally mounted
in a 14" x 16" double-sided frame with mat board and glass on both sides.  The frame itself is modern, but you would not know it by seeing it from the front, as it is solid wood, beautifully crafted and distressed to look like a 19th-century frame.
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CONDITION...
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- Very well preserved, and f
rom a non-smoking environment
.
- Normal creasing/folds in the letter
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