In late September 1861, the 32nd Indiana departed Indianapolis for Kentucky with just over nine hundred men in the ranks. Three years and many hard fought battles later, only 280 men of the original enlistees returned to the city. When the final tally was officially recognized it showed seven officers and 164 enlisted died in combat and one officer and 97 men died of disease. Another 441 were wounded, some died later from wounds and scores became permanently disabled from injuries; statistics common among the German regiments that served. These men provided the North one of the first tangible victories of the war at Rowlett’s Station, Kentucky during a time when the Union cause suffered embarrassment on other fronts. They went on to fight in many of the major western battles from Shiloh to Atlanta. Immediately following their gallant assault up Missionary Ridge outside of Chattanooga in November 1863, the regiment was shifted east to Knoxville as part of a force sent to augment Ambrose Burnside’s operations against Confederate General James Longstreet. The following spring they joined Sherman’s march on Atlanta, fighting through the many battles, ending their three-year term before that city was won. The men of the 32nd Indiana, along with thousands of other ethnic Germans, gave of themselves in full measure to prove themselves worthy of citizenship.