After the battle, graves of fallen Confederate soldiers were placed around the area. During the battle, James Madison Griffin had seen his house used as a hospital. In 1872 he decided to donate some land for the use of a Confederate cemetery. Various troops were reinterred here, and the monument was placed as the focus point of this small cemetery. In 1872, a public subscription sought funds to build a memorial in memory of the Confederate soldiers located there. The original monument, which cost $500, was a simple granite obelisk with inscription and a small base. On June 3, 1911, over 4,000 people from the surrounding counties gathered for Confederate Decoration Day at the monument, with the keynote speakers being ex-Union officers. The monument eventually fell into disrepair. It would be restored in the 1930s, with the enclosure gone and the obelisk placed on a wide concrete base. The state of Michigan has a historical marker at the site as well, commemorating the Union soldiers from Michigan who defended the area; most were immigrants from the Netherlands, and were given their battle commands in Dutch.[2][3]