Letters of the 32nd Regiment (1st German) and Documents about 32nd Regiment

The Indiana Historical Society houses a collection of letters written by members of the 1st German regiment. These letters are written in German and talk about camp life. The advantage of having the letters in German was it was much more difficult to spy on their contents. Similar to the Navajo Wind-talkers of World War II, the German soldiers could openly discuss details with less fear of having their communications intercepted and used maliciously. In addition to the letters, there is a group of reports about the roster of soldiers serving in the regiment and the casualties that occurred both on the battlefield and at camp.

The letters are all written by one officer, Henry Seyffert. In his letters, he talks about what he's been experiencing on the front lines as well as inquiring home about what his family and friends were doing for Christmas in one letter. The original letters are no longer available for examination as is archiving protocol for older paper artifacts. The public may look at photocopy versions of the letters.

The letters are not the only documentation from the 32nd Indiana that can be seen. This is also the location where the book of pictures of Captain Adolph Metzner drew during the Civil war depicting the various scenes of camp life he was witness to. These sketches were created on a variety of canvases owing to the fact that Metzner did not always have access to paper for his creations and had to depict his drawings on whatever was available (such as cardboard). Metzner had some training in the pharmaceutical field which provided him with the knowledge of how to produce distinct tints for his drawings from the natural sources around him such as berries and bark. After the Battle of Stones River, he was assigned to the position of topographical engineer with the 2nd Divison, Army of the Cumberland where artists' material was more readily available for drawing during his idle hours.

Peake, Michael A. Blood Shed in This War: Civil War Illustrations by Captain Adolph Metzner, 32nd Indiana. Indianapolis, Indiana: Indiana Historical Society Press, 2010.