Rob,
The copy I have does not include the first portion of the letter so I cannot provide a date, but it is a long letter--at least five pages--and is signed, "Your aff. son"

By the way, I found another reference, A Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, by Louis Leon (53rd NC in Daniel's brigade). Leon writes that his company went into the fight (at Gettysburg) with 60 men, and only 16 of them came out untouched. He says there were 12 sharpshooters in his company and only he and John Cochran were the only ones left. On July 6, he records that his company was ordered out as skirmishers because the "regular skirmish corps" was broken up during the fight.