Confederate Memorial Hall

Designer: Carol La Buddie

Embroiderer: Dorothy Fritz

Year Created: 1995

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This antebellum mansion of fifteen rooms was built by Robert Houston
Armstrong in 1858, shortly after his marriage to Louisa Franklin. The
young couple named their home “Bleak House” after the popular novel
by Charles Dickens. During the Civil War, the house served as headquarters
for General Longstreet and his staff. During the siege of Knoxville
in 1864, the house was damaged by rifle and artillery fire. There are
some well-preserved pictures on a tower wall drawn by an unknown
soldier/artist of “men who were shot up here.” The house remained in
the Armstrong family until 1906. In 1959, it was purchased by Chapter
89, United Daughters of the Confederacy, for a Confederate memorial,
museum, and chapter house. It was placed on the National Register of
Historic Places in 1984.