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The Thirty-second was one of the first regiments raised in Ohio on the basis of three-years' service.  Its rendezvous was was Camp Bartley, Mansfield, on the Tingley Farm, north of the Ohio Reformatory.  The name of this camp was changed by Colonel Ford to Camp Buckingham, in honor of the then Adjutant General of the State.  After the 32nd. left, the name "Camp Bartley" was again taken.  The camp equipage arrived on Monday, August 19, 1861, and the camp was formally opened the day following.  The camp was the center of attraction for this and adjoining counties, and the soldiers were complimented for making a fine military appearance.

Recruiting went on rapidly, but the regiment was ordered to Camp Dennison before it was filled or the organization thoroughly completed.  Hon. Thomas H. Ford, formerly Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, was colonel of the regiment, and the date of the commission of the field officers was July 26.  On the 5th. of September, they left Camp Dennison for West Virginia.  Then went by rail to Grafton, and then marched to Beverly, at which place Colonel Ford reported for orders to Brigadier General Reynolds, then commanding the district of Cheat Mountain, with headquarters at Huttonsville.

Upon the rugged heights of Cheat Mountain, the regiment received its first lesson of war.  October 3, a forward movement was made, with the Thirty-Second leading the advance of the army against Green Brier, Virginia.  On the 13th. of December they accompanied General Milroy in his advance on Camp Allegheny.  In this engagement the regiment lost four killed and fourteen severely wounded.  After this expedition, the command returned to Beverly, where it was quartered the remainder of that severe winter.  While in General Milroy's command, the regiment took the advance in the expeditions which resulted in the capture of Camp Allegheny, Huntersville, Monterey and McDowell.

As it would lengthen this sketch beyond the limit assigned for it to recount the campaigns, through which the 32nd. passed, it must suffice to take a shorter way, and give in brief but little except the names and dates of the battles in which the regiment was engaged, and in which it bore an honorable part:

The 32nd. was n the surrender at Harper's Ferry, where the boys were taken prisoners.  After their exchange, they were sent down the Mississippi and the regiment was assigned to Logan's Division, 17th. Army Corps, commanded by Major-General McPherson, Army of the Tennessee.

In August, 1862, the regiment accompanied Stevenson's expedition to Monroe, Louisiana, and in October of the same year it was with McPherson's expedition to Brownsville, Miss.  It was also with Sherman in his expedition to Meridian.  After the fall of Atlanta, the 32nd. moved with the army in pursuit of Hood after which it rejoined General Sherman, and accompanied him on his "March to the Sea".  

In December and January, 1863-4, more than three-fourths of the regiments re-enlisted as veterans.

The 32nd. entered the field September 15, 1861, nine hundred and fifty men strong, and during the war received more than sixteen hundred recruits.  Only five hundred and sixty-five men remained at the muster out of the regiment, July 26, 1864.  It is thought that the 32nd. recruited and lost more men than any other regiment from Ohio.  The original and recruited members of Company E numbered 177 men.  Forty-nine of these Company E soldiers are still living, thirteen of whom reside in Mansfield, namely:  George Knofflock, S.F. Bell, George N. Stevens, J.C. Carothers, W.K. Oberlin, T.W. Ford, James M. Post, Richard Cairns, Samuel Saulsbery, Henry C. Barr, Alex Aungst, David N. Stambaugh, A.J. Baughman.

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