Letter to —— Moulton. Washington.

July 31, 1863

My dear Sir, There has been a good deal of complaint against you by your superior
officers of the Provost-Marshal-General's Department, and your removal has been
strongly urged on the ground of "persistent disobedience of orders and neglect of
duty." Firmly convinced, as I am, of the patriotism of your motives, I am unwilling to
do anything in your case which may seem unnecessarily harsh or at variance with the
feelings of personal respect and esteem with which I have always regarded you. I
consider your services in your district valuable, and should be sorry to lose them. It is
unnecessary for me to state, however, that when differences of opinion arise between
officers of the government, the ranking officer must be obeyed. You of course
recognize as clearly as I do the importance of this rule. I hope you will conclude to go
on in your present position under the regulations of the department. I wish you would
write to me.