We have been permitted to make use of the following extract from a letter of a highly intelligent and competent officer of a Massachusetts regiment at Baton Rouge. The letter is under date of April 30, 1863 :

“And now for the most important feature, the negro troops. I have seen two regiments of them, and I must say that I have seen many white regiments that will not compare with them. They very far exceeded my expectations. I much prefer them to white troops. They obey ail orders given to them cheerfully and with alacrity. They drill remarkably well and their camps are neat and clean. One regiment was officered by white officers entirely, and in the other the field and staff officers only were white, the officers of the line being black. The feeling of the generality of officers here is in favor of blacks, and if we get as good a set of men as those in the regiments we have seen, we shall be perfectly satisfied. The feeling here in regard to them is rapidly changing in their favor. We look upon the whole matter as a fixed fact.