Headquarters 57th Regt., O.V.I.
3 miles from Pittsburg Landing
Tenn, April 10th, 1862
Dear Friend
It becomes my painful duty to inform you
of the death of your brother Capt. James C. Gribbon.
He fell as become a hero and a brave man. He had been
at the head of his company cheering, directing and com-
manding his men during that terrible Sunday morning
the 6th of April. He had just been struck with a piece
of a shell in the breast which had knocked him down.
He got up laughing and was telling some of the boys
about the circumstance and laid his hand on his
breast to show the place where the shell struck him
when a bullet (they were flying thick as hail) passed through
his body entering where the shell had struck him a few
minutes before. He fell and laying his hand on his
breast said "My God! Boys, I am dead! Give them hell,
boys! I'm dead!" He was carried off the field and
taken to the landing where he is buried on the bluff beside
a large oak tree. He was one of the bravest of
the many brave men of the Fifty-Seventh [57th Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment]. He was
a hero and fell in a good cause. The tears of the
regiment moistened his grave and his name is deepy
engraved in the hearts of his comrades. I will write
you again. Your friend + sympathizer, W. Mungen
