Boston Corbett

After working as a milliner in Troy, Corbett returned to New York City.[3] He later married, but his wife and child died in childbirth. Following their deaths, he moved to Boston. Corbett became despondent over the loss of his wife and began drinking heavily. He was unable to hold a job and eventually became homeless.[1][4] After a night of heavy drinking, he was confronted by a street preacher whose message persuaded him to join the Methodist Episcopal Church. Corbett immediately stopped drinking and became devoutly religious. After being baptized, he subsequently changed his name to Boston, the name of the city where he was converted.[5] He regularly attended meetings at the Fulton and Bromfield Street churches where his enthusiastic behavior earned him the nickname "The Glory to God man".[3] In an attempt to imitate Jesus, Corbett began to wear his hair very long (he was forced to cut it upon enlisting in the Union Army).[6][7]

In 1857, Corbett began working at a hat manufacturer's shop on Washington Street in downtown Boston. He was reported to be a proficient milliner, but was known to proselytize frequently and stop work to pray and sing for co-workers who used profanity in his presence. He also began working as a street preacher and would sermonize and distribute religious literature in North Square.[8] Corbett soon earned a reputation around Boston for being a "local eccentric" and religious fanatic.[1][2] On July 16, 1858, Corbett was propositioned by two prostitutes while walking home from a church meeting. He was deeply disturbed by the encounter. Upon returning to his room at a boardinghouse, Corbett began reading chapters 18 and 19 in the Gospel of Matthew ("And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee....and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake"). In order to avoid sexual temptation and remain holy, he castrated himself with a pair of scissors.[2] He then ate a meal and went to a prayer meeting before seeking medical treatment.[9]

Sgt. Boston Corbett, Union Army.

In April 1861, early in the American Civil War, Corbett enlisted as a private in Company I of the 12th Regiment New York Militia. Corbett's eccentric behavior quickly got him into trouble. He carried a Bible with him at all times and read passages aloud from it regularly, held unauthorized prayer meetings and argued with his superior officers.[10] Corbett also condemned officers and superiors for what he perceived as violations of God's word. In one instance, he verbally reprimanded Colonel Daniel Butterfield for using profanity and taking the Lord's name in vain. He was sent to the guardhouse for several days but refused to apologize for his insubordination.[11] Due to his continued disruptive behavior and refusal to take orders, Corbett was court-martialed and sentenced to be shot. His sentence was eventually reduced and he was discharged in August 1863.[12]

Corbett re-enlisted later that month as a private in Company L, 16th New York Cavalry Regiment. On June 24, 1864, he was captured by Confederate Colonel John S. Mosby's men in Culpeper, Virginia and held prisoner at Andersonville prison for five months. While on the way to Andersonville, the following incident happened, told by a fellow prisoner of Corbett's named William Collins:

At Macon there were about a thousand prisoners who had arrived ahead of us. The train we were on unloaded our thousand making 2000 in all. We were taken to an old pasture or common near the railroad tracks where a furrow was ploughed around it for a deadline. There was a small stream of water close to the guard line and the prisoners made a rush for it, most of them had no water for many hours, but the guards kept them back. One of the more venturesome than the rest got through the line and attempted to fill his canteen. He was immediately shot in the arm with buckshot by one of the guards. He was pushed back among our men and laid under a tree. The wounded man was suffering greatly and called for water to ease his pain, but none had any in his canteen. Boston Corbett stepped out of the ranks, having been unable to stand silent any longer. He crossed the deadline, filled his canteen in the stream and gave the wounded man a drink. The guards continually threatened him with death, but Corbett ignored them and went about his business. Despite their threats he returned unharmed and rejoined the ranks of prisoners. The cheers of the soldiers at this brave deed could have been heard one mile away, but Corbett seemed to think it was not out of the ordinary. It was the bravest deed that I had seen during the war. We arrived at Andersonville prison the next day.

Corbett was released in an exchange in November 1864 and was admitted to the Army hospital in Annapolis, Maryland where he was treated for scurvy, malnutrition and exposure.[11] On his return to his company, he was promoted to sergeant. Corbett later testified for the prosecution in the trial of the commandant of Andersonville, Captain Henry Wirz.[13][14]

Wanted poster for John Wilkes Booth, John Surratt, and David Herold (1865)

On April 24, 1865, Corbett's regiment was sent to apprehend John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, whom Booth fatally shot on April 14, 1865. On April 26, the regiment surrounded Booth and one of his accomplices, David Herold, in a tobacco barn on the Virginia farm of Richard Garrett. Herold surrendered, but Booth refused and cried out, "I will not be taken alive!". The barn was set on fire in an attempt to force him out into the open, but Booth remained inside.[15] Corbett was positioned near a large crack in the barn wall.

In an 1878 interview, Corbett claimed that he saw Booth aim his carbine, prompting him to shoot Booth with his Colt revolver despite Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton's orders that Booth be captured alive. The bullet struck Booth in the back of the head behind his left ear, passed through his neck, and out into the barn.[16][17] A low scream of pain like that produced by a sudden throttling came from the assassin, and he pitched headlong to the floor.[18] Corbett and the other soldiers would note a sense of poetic, or cosmic, justice in that Lincoln and Booth were each shot around the same spot of the head.[19][20] And the damage to Booth was no less severe than that to Lincoln: the bullet had pierced three vertebrae and partially severed his spinal cord, paralyzing him.[21][22] Their conditions were different as well, as Mary Clemmer Ames summed it up, "The balls entered the skull of each at nearly the same spot, but the trifling difference made an immeasurable difference in the sufferings of the two. Mr. Lincoln was unconscious of all pain, while his assassin suffered as exquisite agony as if he had been broken on a wheel."[23]

In a weak voice, Booth asked for water and Conger and Baker gave it to him.[24] A soldier poured water into his mouth, which he immediately spat out, unable to swallow. The bullet wound prevented him from swallowing any of the liquid. Booth asked them to roll him over and turn him facedown. Conger thought it a bad idea. Then at least turn me on my side, the assassin pleaded. They did, but Conger saw that the move did not relieve Booth's suffering. Baker noticed it, too: "He seemed to suffer extreme pain whenever he was moved...and would several times repeat, ‘Kill me.’"[25] At sunrise, Booth remained in agonizing pain. His pulse weakening as his breathing became more labored and irregular. In agony, unable to move his limbs, he asked a soldier to lift his hands before his face and whispered as he gazed at them, "Useless ... Useless." These were his last words. A few minutes later, Booth began gasping for air as his throat continued to swell, then there was a shiver and a gurgle and his body shuddered, before Booth died from asphyxia. He died two hours after Corbett shot him.

Boston Corbett

Lt. Colonel Everton Conger initially thought Booth had shot himself. After realizing Booth had been shot by someone else, Conger and Lt. Doherty asked which officer had shot Booth. Corbett stepped forward and admitted he was the shooter.[26] When asked why he had violated orders, Corbett replied, "Providence directed me".[27]

He was immediately arrested and was accompanied by Lt. Doherty to the War Department in Washington, D.C. to be court-martialed. When questioned by Edwin Stanton about Booth's capture and shooting, both Doherty and Corbett agreed that Corbett had, in fact, disobeyed orders not to shoot. However, Corbett maintained that he believed Booth had intended to shoot his way out of the barn and that he acted in self-defense. He told Stanton, "...Booth would have killed me if I had not shot first. I think I did right."[28] Corbett maintained that he didn't intend to kill Booth, but merely wanted to inflict a disabling wound, but either his aim slipped or Booth moved at the moment Corbett pulled the trigger.[24] Stanton paused and then stated, "The rebel is dead. The patriot lives; he has spared the country expense, continued excitement and trouble. Discharge the patriot."[28] Upon leaving the War Department, Corbett was greeted by a cheering crowd. As he made his way to Mathew Brady's studio to have his official portrait taken, the crowd followed him asking for autographs and requesting that he tell them about shooting Booth. Corbett told the crowd:

I aimed at his body. I did not want to kill him....I think he stooped to pick up something just as I fired. That may probably account for his receiving the ball in the head. [W]hen the assassin lay at my feet, a wounded man, and I saw the bullet had taken effect about an inch back of the ear, and I remembered that Mr. Lincoln was wounded about the same part of the head, I said: "What a God we have...God avenged Abraham Lincoln."[19]

Eyewitnesses to Booth's shooting contradicted Corbett's version of events and expressed doubts that Corbett was responsible for shooting Booth. Officers who were near Corbett at the time claimed that they never saw him fire his gun (Corbett's gun was never inspected and was eventually lost). They claimed that Corbett came forward only after Lt. Colonel Conger asked who had shot Booth. Richard Garrett, the owner of the farm on which Booth was found, and his 12-year-old son Robert also contradicted Corbett's testimony that he acted in self-defense. Both maintained that Booth had never reached for his gun.[29]

While there was some criticism of Corbett's actions, he was largely considered a hero by the public and press. One newspaper editor declared that Corbett would, "live as one of the World's great avengers."[30] For his part in Booth's capture, Corbett received a portion of the $100,000 reward money, amounting to $1,653.84 (equivalent to $28,000 in 2019).[31][32] His annual salary as a U.S. sergeant was $204 (equivalent to $3,000 in 2019). Corbett received offers to purchase the gun he used to shoot Booth. He refused stating, "That is not mine—it belongs to the Government, and I would not sell it for any price."[33] Corbett also declined an offer for one of Booth's pistols as he did not want a reminder of shooting Booth.[33]

In the years following Corbett's presumed death, several men came forward claiming to be "Lincoln's Avenger". A few years after Corbett was last seen in Neodesha, Kansas, a patent medicine salesman in Enid, Oklahoma filed an application using Corbett's name to receive pension benefits. After an investigation proved that the man was not Boston Corbett, he was sent to prison. In September 1905, a man arrested in Dallas also claimed to be Corbett. He too was proven to be an imposter and was sent to prison for perjury, and then to the Government Hospital for the Insane.[40]

In 1958, Boy Scout Troop 31, of Concordia, Kansas, built a roadside monument to Corbett located on Key Road. A small sign was also placed to mark the dug hole where Corbett had lived for a time.[41]