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The Deadly Fight Between Two 90+ Year Old Civil War Vets Over An Open Window
In 1924, what should have been a standard disagreement in a Tennessee retirement home quickly turned tragic
The American Civil War was by far the bloodiest conflict to take place in the history of the country. Hundreds of thousands of men from both the North and the South perished during the five-year conflict fought over states’ rights, slavery and other issues creating division. Those who served never forgot their toughness, no matter how old they got. This was made readily apparent in the 1920s when two 90+ year-old Confederate veterans became embroiled in a deadly fight in an old folks home that was caused by an argument about an open window.
In 1924 Nashville Tennessee, 97 year-old G.W. Hamby and 91-year-old Dr. G.T. Bracking were roommates at the Tennessee Confederate Soldiers’ Home. Despite their advanced ages, both still had fighting spirits that boiled over when they began to argue one afternoon about a window in their room, and whether it should be opened or closed.
Bracking had returned to his quarters after completing his job of delivering mail around the home. He wanted to sit and read some letters he had received but found their window open. Having recently recovered from the flu, he thought it best to close it and avoid the winter air. This did not sit well with his roommate, who was hoping to cool the room down a little. The simple matter escalated quickly.
The conflict became so intense that it transferred from a verbal argument to physical. Bracking claimed that Hamby knocked him down and jumped on him, attempting to stomp him and also gouge out his eyes. The doctor claimed that he used his pocket knife to stab the older man in the head, who got in his licks as well. Unfortunately, Hamby died within an hour of receiving his wounds, and Bracking ended up in the hospital ward with injuries suffered in the hand-to-hand combat.
Days after the melee, Hamby’s 76-year-old son pressed charges against Bracking for the murder of his father. However, the sheriff delayed making an arrest, wanting the doctor to recover more from the injuries he had suffered in the fight. “They [the home] can take care of him better than…
