One reader of the novel recently emailed to say he‘d Googled “Bleak House” and was surprised to see that it still stands. This is an old photo of the Armstrong home—which hosted Gen. Longstreet’s headquarters during the siege—when it was still a private residence.

Today it’s called Confederate Memorial Hall, is run by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and hosts public tours and private weddings. Note the tower, recipient of Union artillery Lieutenant Benjamin’s “prettiest shot of the war,” from which a Rebel sharpshooter is said to have mortally wounded Union General William P. Sanders.