Marker planned at Farragut birthplace

The town of Farragut, Tenn., plans to match funds to install a Civil War Trail marker off Northshore Drive near Adm. James David Glasgow Farragut’s birthplace. Farragut was 63 years old at the Battle of Mobile Bay, where he spoke the famous words, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead." The Union military leader is buried in New York. • Article

Bridge burning re-enactment planned

Union sympathizers burned the Hiawassee River railroad bridge in Charleston, Tenn., during the Civil War, and there are plans in the works to do it again at an event this fall. • Article

Museum to get stolen revolver back

A gun used in the Civil War, then stolen from the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Va., has been recovered more than three decades after the theft. • Article

There's an app for Battle of Franklin

Sam Billingsley has created the first free, downloadable app designed to give smart-phone users more information about the Battle of Franklin while they visit Tennessee city. • Article

Grant will help preserve portion of Franklin

A state grant of $960,000 was awarded to help preserve part of the Franklin, Tenn., battleground upon which a strip mall currently exists. The money will help purchase the property so that preservationists can install a park. • Article

Colonel's coffin moved to plantation

A Civil War soldier’s coffin was moved on to Travellers Rest Plantation in Tennessee as part of a celebration of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War. Col. William Shy's coffin was moved with care from the Carter House in Franklin. • Article

Leighton Meester At The 2010 CMA Awards

Bringing her stylish ways to Bridgestone Arena, Leighton Meester turned up to partake in the 2010 Country Music Awards festivities on Wednesday evening (November 10).

Clad in Emilio Pucci, the “Gossip Girl” actress worked the arrivals area at the Nashville, Tennessee music extravaganza before heading inside to grab a prime seat ahead of the show's 8PM start time on ABC.

Credit: Celebrity Gossip

Leighton Meester: "Country Song" Premiere

Leighton Meester attends the "Country Strong" Premiere at Regal Green Hills on November 8, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Credit: Zimbio

Photos by Rick Diamond/Getty Images North America

Tennessee offers special license plate

Civil War buffs have a chance to order a new license plate commemorating the 150th anniversary of the war. The Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association, a nonprofit organization, is sponsoring the license plate to raise money for battlefield preservation and the Civil War Trails program. • Click here for info, to order

Tenn. archivists to record memorabilia

Representatives from the Tennessee State Library and Archives and the Tennessee State Museum will be in Franklin on Oct. 15 to record and digitize Civil War memorabilia, including photos and documents, owned by local residents. • Article

CWPT makes deal for battlefield land

The nation's leading Civil War land preservation group will formally announce plans to buy 84 acres of land now owned by General Motors. There's one catch: The deal is contingent upon members helping raise part of the $2 million needed by Nov. 29, the 146th anniversary of the Battle of Spring Hill (Tenn). • Article

Tennessee's inaugural 150th event

"The Coming of the Civil War" will be a two-day event held in Nashville on November 12-13. It will feature several prominent Nashville attractions including the Tennessee State Museum, Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, Tennessee State Library and Archives, and the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. • Details

Kristin Cavallari Goes Nashville With New Beau

As E! News first reported last week, Kristin Cavallari has sparked a romance with Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, with whom the former Hills honey went on a first date just last Monday night.

And now we've learned exclusively that the new couple spent Labor Day weekend in Nashville, Tennessee.

A source tells E! that L.A.-based Cavallari met up with the footballer in Chicago, where Cutler had a private jet waiting to fly them to Nashville. Cutler played college football for Vanderbilt University and still has a lot of close friends there.

The pair "had a great time," says a source.

Fans spotted the couple getting cozy Saturday at a downtown Nashville nightspot called Winners.

Cavallari must have had fun, judging by her Twitter, where she tweeted earlier today, "This has been one of the best weekends of my life. Yeehaw!"

Credit: E! Online

Fundraiser for flag restoration

Organizers of the fifth annual Confederate Flag Benefit in Franklin, Tenn., hope this week to raise the remaining $13,000 needed to complete the restoration of an 1861-era Confederate flag. The six-by-nine foot silk flag was flown during the Civil War by the 20th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry in 1861.

Learn about 38 Tennessee battles online

The Tennessee State Library and Archives will develop an online database of the state’s Civil War battlefields. • Article

Ft. Sanders bigger than historians thought?

Now-retired University of Tennessee archaeologist Dr. Charles Faulkner and his wife, historian Terry Faulkner, have dug into the Knoxville fort's past. They say what they found changes 50 years of thought about where Fort Sanders sat in 1863 and adds information about its later expansion. • Article

Tenn. archivists digitizing memorabilia

Tennessee archivists will be hitting the road to search for Civil War memorabilia for a digital exhibit commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Staff members from the Tennessee State Library and Archives are looking for manuscripts, artifacts and photographs to be digitally copied and preserved. • Article