Shortly after the Battle of Fort Sumter in April 1861, Indiana's German community responded to Governor Oliver P. Morton's call for recruits to enlist in the Union Army and urged the governor to establish the state's first German regiment, which became the 32nd Indiana.

He established a recruiting headquarters at Union Hall, located at Pennsylvania and Market Streets in Indianapolis, and began the selection process to fill the ranks of his new regiment.

Regimental leaders looked for men among the new recruits arriving at Indianapolis's Camp Morton who had fighting experience and were in good physical condition.

[3][4][5] After the regiment's three-year men returned to Indiana in August 1864, its remaining soldiers consolidated into the three companies (A, B, and C).

The 32nd Indiana remained in Willich's brigade under command of Henry von Trebra, who was promoted to colonel.

[4] On October 15 the regiment was ordered to Camp Nevin, Kentucky, where it remained until December 9, 1861, protecting workers who were repairing a railroad bridge.

[3][5][8] The 32nd Indiana experienced its first major action at the Battle of Rowlett's Station (December 17, 1861), south of Munfordville, Kentucky.

The regiment's service at Rowlett's Station became notable as one of the few occasions during the war when Union infantry successfully defended itself in the open against repeated cavalry assaults from the Confederates.

On April 6, 1862, the 32nd Indiana heard artillery fire in the distance and quickly prepared for the 20-mile (32 km) march to the battlefield, arriving on the eastern shore of the river, opposite Pittsburgh Landing, to witness the aftermath of the day's fighting.

[3][5][13] During the second day of battle, Col. Willich displayed his leadership abilities when his troops became unsteady under heavy fire.

Once the 32nd Indiana had recovered its stability, it advanced with the 77th Pennsylvania to prevent the Confederates from attacking the Union line.

[5][18][19] About 285 men whose mustering into service dated after 1862 remained in the 32nd Indiana and consolidated into a battalion garrisoned at Chattanooga, Tennessee.

In mid-June 1865, new orders moved the 32nd Indiana to New Orleans, Louisiana, and in July 1865 to Texas, where it served at Green Lake and San Antonio, before its remaining soldiers mustered out of service on December 4, 1865.

[5][21] August Bloedner, a private in the 32nd Indiana from Cincinnati, Ohio, to commemorate his comrades who died at the Battle of Rowlett's Station in December 1861.

[22][23][24] Adolph G. Metzner, a German-born pharmacist who immigrated to the United States in 1856 and served in the 32nd Indiana from August 1861 to September 1864, made numerous sketches and drawings during his wartime service with the regiment.