"The efforts to restore Longstreet's headquarters in Russellville are among the most important Civil War preservation efforts in the state. For the last three years, the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area has worked with Lakeway Civil War Preservation Association to do careful research, documentation, and planning for the house's restoration. We are now intent on installing an exhibit, showing a Confederate command center, in the house as part of a Civil War museum that will open in the spring of 2011. I salute the efforts of Hamblen County residents to save this invaluable property and to tell the almost forgotten story of when a corps of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, and one of his most trusted commanders, spent a winter in Tennessee. The story of Longstreet's headquarters emphasizes the national significance of the many stories of Tennessee's Civil War era."
Dr. Van West
Director, Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area Co-chair, Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission
"Bethesda Church reminds all of us of the absolute horrors of the Civil War, and how the unknown soldiers buried in the church's cemetery are just a few among the many brave Tennesseans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their cause, be in the Confederacy or for preserving the Union."
Dr. Van West
Director, Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area Co-chair, Tennessee Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission