The monument honors those who gave their lives from 1861 to 1865 so that the nation might live. It was originally dedicated on July 3, 1909 through the efforts of the Hancock Women's Relief Corps No. 282, an auxiliary of the Hancock Post No. 579 Grand Army of the Republic, a nationwide organization of former Union Civil War veterans founded in 1866. Former Civil War General and Congressman Isaac Sherwood attended with numerous Civil War veterans, school children, and ordinary citizens. Local Civil War veterans mixed and poured the original concrete pedestal at a cost of $400. At the time of the dedication, Defiance County had four G.A.R. posts and two other G.A.R. monuments, while Ohio had a total of 740 G.A.R. posts.