Farewell to 'The Irishman,' who's on epic Civil War journey

Before departing for the rest of his Western Theater trip, Cóilín Ó Coigligh visited Shy's Hill,
where John Bell Hood anchored his left flank during the Battle of Nashville.

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Before Irishman Cóilín Ó Coigligh continued his epic three-week journey to other Civil War battlefields in the Western Theater, I gave him an early morning tour of Shy’s Hill — the extreme left flank of the ragged Army of Tennessee’s line during Day 2 of the Battle of Nashville.

But first BREAKING NEWS! The Irishman’s name doesn’t translate to “Little Pub,” as I thought he told me outside a Franklin, Tenn., bar the other night, but to “Little Pup.” Either his brogue or my mighty strong drink threw me off. Or perhaps I was just delirious.

The Irishman posed at Shy's Hill by
the 114th Illinois monument.

Anywho, we hoofed it to the top of Shy’s Hill, where Hank Williams Jr. used to relic hunt, and then proceeded deep into the tony Oak Hill neighborhood to do what most of us Nashvillians do on a beautiful, spring-like day: have a photo taken at a huge battlefield “witness tree” near an antebellum stone wall with a large dog eyeing us warily. 😀

From there, we ventured over to my friend Jim’s house. (Like most Americans, he has a real Civil War cannon in his front yard.) Jim — a Battle of Nashville expert — showed off his impressive Civil War collection and gifted Cóilín — pronounced CO-lean — with honest-to-goodness relics from the battle. The smile on the Irishman’s face was priceless.

I sent Cóilín packing with a copy of Tony Horwitz’s magnificent Confederates In The Attic, a gigantic copy of an Antietam image by Alexander Gardner and the knowledge (I hope) that most Americans are OK.

Well, except for Aaron Rodgers.

The Irishman stands by a battlefield witness tree in Oak Hill, a tony Nashville suburb.

My friend Jim gave the Irishman Battle of Nashville relics, but the cannon was not included.