below Captain S. Van Vliet, agreeably to the recommendation of the
Secretary of War.

JAMES BUCHANAN



WAR DEPARTMENT, _January 6, 1858_.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

SIR: Under date of October 9, 1855, Captain A.W. Reynolds, assistant
quartermaster, was dismissed from the public service in virtue of the
third section of the act approved January 31, 1823.

Shortly afterwards suit was brought in the United States district court
for the eastern district of Pennsylvania for the purpose of recovering
the amounts alleged to be due the United States from Captain Reynolds,
and which were stated at $126,307.20. At the suggestion of the United
States district attorney, and with the consent of the Secretary of the
Treasury, the matter was referred for a full and careful reexamination
to three gentlemen, of whom one is understood to have been an
experienced clerk of the Treasury Department of the United States.
The verdict of the referees, fully concurred in by the United States
district attorney, subsequently confirmed by a jury, and according to
which judgment was rendered by the court, is that the United States are,
on the contrary, indebted to Captain Reynolds in the sum of $130.63.

In addition to this high judicial award in Captain Reynolds's favor,
numerous petitions have been received--from the district attorney, from