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Wednesday morning the Commander-in- Chief and Lt. Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans visited the Longstreet Museum in Russellville.

Jason Bashers and Donnie Kennedy visited with local SVC Camp 1638 members to tour the Longstreet Museum on 5915 E. Andrew Johnson Hwy.

“I want to welcome each one of you today and especially our honored guests the CIV and Lieutenant CIV of the Sons of Confederate Veterans,” Mike Beck, a Lakeway Area Civil War Preservation Association founder said. “We hope you enjoy the facility and we hope you ask questions on how we conserve the history of the general at this museum.”

The home is significant due to it serving as Gen. James Longstreet’s headquarters during 1963 to 1964.

In the winter of 1863, after heavy losses during the Siege of Knoxville, Longstreet led his men out of the city.

On December 14, 1863, Longstreet, with command of all forces within upper East Tennessee, led his troops to victory at the Battle of Bean Station.

Longstreet moved his troops to Russellville and established his headquarters in the William Nenney House.

The museum was renovated by the Friends of General Longstreet Headquarters Museum and developed into a Civil War museum and interpretive center and re-opened – post COVID – in 2022.

Each room within the house is filled with of artifacts and memorabilia from the civil war era.

Tour guides led the visitors throughout the house describing each piece of history.

A key discussion point was the statue of The Confederate Soldiers Monument, popularly known as “The Boys Who Wore Gray” in Durham, North Carolina.

The statue was seriously damaged by protestors and removed from public view on August 14, 2017.

The local SVC purchased one of three replicas to be placed outside the museum to draw in more viewers.

However, the SVC Camp 1638 members are hoping to add a concrete base and plaque before setting it outside.

“He is six foot, the base is eight foot and we are hoping to add a plaque to commemorate the statue,” said Jordy Barnette, SVC Camp 1638 Commander. “This will be a great beautification project for the museum that will help bring in visitors and we are also honoring our heritage.”

Barnette explained how the program started and how the group is dedicated to preserving history.

“This has been our big project. This project started right when the pandemic hit,” he said. “As soon as we couldn’t fundraise in person, we started this project. We are almost to our goal to pay for the project, but we are not there yet. We are still raising funds to complete the entire project, but we are looking forward to getting it done.

“We can’t do anything about what other people are doing elsewhere in the country but we can preserve and protect history in our own community.”

Following the tours the group attended a luncheon at The Country Club with several local leaders to discuss the museum and other Civil War era stories.

There will be more on that meeting in an upcoming edition of the Citizen Tribune.

The Longstreet Museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission to the museum is $5 for adults and $3 for children 12 and under.