View source for Boston Corbett

{{short description|English-born American soldier and milliner who killed John Wilkes Booth (1832–1888)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2014}}
{{Infobox military person
| name              = Boston Corbett
| image             = Boston Corbett - Brady-Handy.jpg
| image_size        = 
| caption           = Corbett {{circa|1864&ndash;1865}}
| birth_name        = Thomas H. Corbett
| birth_date        = January 29, 1832
| birth_place       = [[London]], England
| disappeared_date  = {{circa}} May 26, 1888 (aged 56) 
| disappeared_place = [[Neodesha, Kansas]]
| nickname          = ''The Glory to God man'' <br /> ''Lincoln's Avenger''
| allegiance        = {{flagcountry|US|1863}}
| branch            = {{army|US|1863}}
| serviceyears      = 1861&ndash;1865
| rank              = [[Sergeant]]
| unit              = [[New York Guard|12th New York State Militia]] <br /> [[16th New York Cavalry Regiment]]
| battles           = [[American Civil War]]
| signature         = Boston Corbett signature.svg
}}

[[Sergeant]] '''Thomas H.''' "'''Boston'''" '''Corbett''' (January 29, 1832 – disappeared {{circa|May 26, 1888}}) was an English-born American soldier and milliner who killed [[John Wilkes Booth]], the [[assassination of Abraham Lincoln|assassin of President Abraham Lincoln]] on April 26, 1865. Known for his devout religious beliefs and eccentric behavior, Corbett was reportedly a good soldier and had been a [[prisoner of war]] at [[Andersonville Prison]]. Corbett shot and mortally wounded Booth when his regiment surrounded him in pursuit. For his actions, Corbett was largely considered a hero by the American media and public.

Corbett drifted around the United States before he was committed to [[Topeka State Hospital|Topeka Asylum for the Insane]] after being declared insane in 1887. Corbett escaped and disappeared in 1888.

==Early life and education==
Corbett was born in [[London]], England on January 29, 1832, and immigrated with his family to [[New York City]] in 1840. The Corbetts moved frequently before eventually settling in [[Troy, New York]]. As a teenager, Corbett began apprenticing as a [[Hat-making|milliner]], a profession that he would hold intermittently throughout his life. As a milliner, Corbett was regularly exposed to the fumes of [[mercury(II) nitrate]], then used in the treatment of [[fur]] to produce [[felt]] used on hats. Excessive exposure to the compound can lead to [[hallucination]]s, [[psychosis]] and [[erethism]].<ref name="jameson128">{{harvnb|Jameson|2013|pp=128}}</ref> Historians have theorized that the mental issues Corbett exhibited before and after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] were caused by this exposure.<ref name = "walker159">{{harvnb|Walker|Jakes|1998|p=159}}</ref>

===Family and religion===
After working as a milliner in Troy, Corbett returned to New York City.<ref name="johnson45">{{harvnb|Johnson|1914|p=45}}</ref> In the early 1850s, Corbett met Susan Rebecca, who was thirteen years his senior, and they married. The couple migrated and on June 9, 1855, Corbett made his transition from British citizen to American, taking the oath in a Troy courthouse. Corbett had a hard time finding and keeping work in Richmond, Virginia, in large part because of his vociferous opposition to slavery. His wife took ill, and as they were returning to New York City by ship, Susan died at sea on August 18, 1856. The body continued on to New York, where the death was recorded and Susan was buried. Following her death, he moved to [[Boston]]. Corbett became despondent over the loss of his wife and, according to friends, began drinking heavily.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|pages=7–8}}</ref> He was unable to hold a job and eventually became homeless.<ref name="jameson128"/><ref>{{harvnb|Walker|Jakes|1998|p=160}}</ref> After a night of heavy drinking, he was confronted by a street preacher whose message persuaded him to join the [[Methodist Episcopal Church]]. Corbett reportedly encountered some evangelical temperance Christians and was detained by them until he sobered up, undergoing a religious epiphany in the process.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=9}}</ref>

In 1857, Corbett began working at a hat manufacturer's shop on [[Washington Street (Boston)|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 (Boston, Massachusetts)|North Square]].<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1914|pp=45–46}}</ref> Corbett soon earned a reputation around Boston for being a "local eccentric" and religious fanatic.<ref name="jameson128"/><ref name="walker159"/> by the summer of 1858, Corbett fell in with members of the [[Methodist Episcopal Church]], becoming a proselytizer and street preacher. On July&nbsp;16, 1858, Corbett, while trying to remain chaste, struggled against sexual urges and began reading [[s:Bible (American Standard)/Matthew#19:12|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 [[eunuch]]s, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake"). A friend, years later, recounted Corbett saying "that the lord directed him, in a vision or in some way, to castrate himself." Corbett [[castration|castrated]] [[self-surgery|himself]] with a pair of scissors.<ref name="walker159"/> He handled it with remarkable stoicism. He ate a meal and went to a prayer meeting before someone sent for medical treatment.<ref name="Swanson329">{{harvnb|Swanson|2007|p=329}}</ref> Corbett was released on August 15, and a friend recorded that "he was very much gratified with the result as his passion was not trouble any more...his object was that he might preach the gospel without being tormented by his passions."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=10}}</ref> After being [[baptized]] on August 29, he subsequently changed his name to Boston, the name of the city where he was converted.<ref name="Harper's Weekly, May 13, 1865">Harper's Weekly, May&nbsp;13, 1865</ref> He regularly attended meetings at the Fulton and Bromfield Street churches where his enthusiastic behavior earned him the nickname "The Glory to God man".<ref name="johnson45"/> 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]]).<ref>{{harvnb|Kauffman|2004|p=310}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1914|p=46}}</ref> Corbett was described as friendly and open, helpful to those he saw in need but also quick to condemn those he thought were out of step with God.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=11}}</ref> Corbett routinely gathered up drunken sinners from the New York streets and took them to his room, where he would sober them up and feed them up, restoring their health and also trying to help them find work. He continually expended all his own money and frequently borrowed from friends. When his hat-making boss asked Corbett about his lack of decent clothes for himself, Corbett always said he was "doing the Lord's work." His boss later described him as "a good man, for all of his faults were of the head, and not of the heart."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=13}}</ref>

==Military career==
===Enlistment in the Union Army===
[[File:Sergent Boston Corbett, 16th N.Y. Cav. Who shot J. Wilkes Booth, April 26, 1865. (2719965829).jpg|thumb|A photograph of Corbett in his [[Union Army]] uniform.]]
On April 19, 1861, early in the [[American Civil War]], Corbett, who was anti-slavery,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=22}}</ref> enlisted as a [[Private (rank)|private]] in Company I of the [[Union Army]]'s [[New York Guard|12th New York State 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Walker|Jakes|1998|pp=160–161}}</ref> Corbett also condemned officers and superiors for what he perceived as violations of [[Religious texts|God's word]]. In one instance, he verbally reprimanded Colonel [[Daniel Butterfield]] for using profanity and [[Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain|taking the Lord's name in vain]]. He was sent to the [[guardhouse]] for several days but refused to apologize for his insubordination.<ref name="Walker 1998 161">{{harvnb|Walker|Jakes|1998|p=161}}</ref> Due to his continued disruptive behavior and refusal to take orders, Corbett was [[court-martial]]ed and sentenced to be shot. His sentence was eventually reduced and he was discharged in August 1863.<ref>{{harvnb|Jameson|2013|p=129}}</ref> Corbett re-enlisted later that month in Company L, [[16th New York Cavalry Regiment]]. On February 26, 1864, he was demoted to private as punishment for an unknown incident.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=38}}</ref>

===Andersonville===
Despite his religious-oriented eccentricities, Corbett reportedly was a good soldier. On June&nbsp;24, 1864, after [[Confederate States Army]] troops led by [[John S. Mosby]] in [[Culpeper, Virginia]] had captured a good number of Corbett's comrades, Corbett continued to fire at the enemy from behind a persimmon tree and in a ditch with a seven-shooter repeating rifle. Three attempts were made to capture him before success was finally had when he ran out of ammo. Once Corbett was overtaken, one of the junior officers leapt from his saddle, enraged at Corbett's persistence, knocked the Spencer rifle from Corbett and aimed a pistol at his head. Captain Chapman objected, "Don’t shoot that man! He has a right to defend himself to the last!" Corbett related later to friends that the man who saved his life was Mosby, though this is dubious.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=42}}</ref>

Corbett was to be a [[prisoner of war]] at [[Andersonville Prison]]. While on the way to Andersonville, the following incident happened, told by a fellow prisoner of Corbett's named William Collins:
 
{{blockquote|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.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}}}

Corbett met Richard Thatcher, a fellow POW who described Corbett as having "qualities that challenged my admiration, even more than the heroism he was capable of displaying in the battlefield. He read passages from the Scriptures to me, and spoke words of sound and wholesome advice, from which I began to learn that he was one who had the courage of his convictions."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=50}}</ref> Corbett, among others, led prayer meetings and patriotic rallies to boost morale, according to John McElroy's eyewitness account in his 1879 memoir ''Andersonville''.<ref name="McElroy1897">{{cite book |author=John McElroy |title=Andersonville: A Story of Rebel Military Prisons |volume=4 |publisher=D. R. Locke |location=Toledo |date=1897 |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4260/4260-h/4260-h.htm |access-date=2020-06-28}}</ref>

After five months, Corbett was released in a [[prisoner exchange]] in November 1864 and was admitted to a military hospital in [[Annapolis, Maryland]] where he was treated for [[scurvy]], [[malnutrition]] and exposure.<ref name="Walker 1998 161"/> Upon Corbett's return to his company, he was promoted to the rank of [[Sergeant (United States)|sergeant]]. Corbett later testified for the prosecution in the trial of the commandant of Andersonville Prison, Captain [[Henry Wirz]].<ref>{{harvnb|Chamlee|Chamlee|1989|p=289}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Chipman|1891|p=40}}</ref>

===Pursuit and death of John Wilkes Booth===
[[File:John Wilkes Booth wanted poster new.jpg|thumb|left|An 1865 [[wanted poster]] for [[John Wilkes Booth]], [[John Surratt]], and [[David Herold]].]]
[[John Wilkes Booth]] [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|shot]] President [[Abraham Lincoln]], on April 14, 1865; Lincoln died the next day. On the night Lincoln was shot, [[16th Regiment New York Volunteer Cavalry|Corbett's regiment]] were based around the Potomac in Vienna, Virginia, and on Saturday morning, they were sent out to search for signs of the assassins and learned Booth's identity as the assassin. During [[funeral and burial of Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln's funeral]], a two-hour procession down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol Building took place. Corbett and the rest of the Cavalry formed part of the parade, joining other regiments leading the hearse. Corbett's regiment had barely left the Capitol after the funeral parade when orders caught up with Lt. Doherty to pursue a lead about Booth. Corbett took time to request permission to attend night meetings at McKendree Chapel where the leader allowed Corbett to lead in prayer over the President's death. On April 24, the regiment was sent to capture Booth. Corbett was among the first to volunteer.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=98}}</ref> 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.  Doherty asked Corbett "to deploy the men right and left" to surround the farm.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=101}}</ref> Corbett and other soldiers arrayed themselves around the barn to ensure neither man escaped. 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.<ref>{{harvnb|Swanson|2007|pp=324–335}}</ref> Corbett was positioned near a large crack in the barn wall. He asked Doherty and offered to enter the barn and try to subdue Booth by himself; Corbett urged, that if Booth shot him, the other soldiers could overwhelm him before he could reload (Corbett was unaware that Booth had a [[carbine]] and several revolvers.) Doherty rejected the suggestion and Corbett moved back to his position. [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|Lt. Colonel]] [[Everton Conger]] came past Corbett, igniting clumps of hay and slipped them in the cracks in the wall, hoping to burn Booth out. Booth walked to the flames, assessing whether he could put out the fire.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=102}}</ref>

{{Quote box|align=right|width=30%|quote="Finding the fire gaining upon him (Booth), he turned to the other side of the barn, and got toward where the door was, and as he got there I saw him make a movement toward the door. I supposed he was going to fight his way out. One of the men, who was watching him, told me that he aimed the carbine at me. He was taking aim with the carbine, but at whom I could not say. My mind was upon him attentively to see that he did no harm, and when I became impressed that it was time I shot him. I took steady aim on my arm, and shot him through a large crack in the barn."|source=<small>Corbett's testimony, May 17, 1865.<ref name="Steers Jr. 2010 94">{{Cite book |last=Steers Jr. |first=Edward |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Trial/3BJv0EPr7ygC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=boston+corbett++He+was+taking+aim+with+the+carbine,+but+at+whom+I+could+not+say.+My+mind+was+upon+him+attentively+to+see+that+he+did+no+harm,+and+when+I+became+impressed+that+it+was+time+I+shot+him.+I+took+steady+aim+on+my+arm,+and+shot+him+through+a+large+crack+in+the+barn&pg=PA94&printsec=frontcover |title=The Trial: The Assassination of President Lincoln |date=2010|publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-7275-0 |pages=94 |language=en |chapter=The Gay Lincoln Myth}}</ref></small>}}

Corbett claimed that he saw Booth aim his carbine, prompting him to shoot at Booth with his [[Colt's Manufacturing Company|Colt revolver]]. The bullet struck Booth in the back of the head behind his left ear, passed through his neck, and out into the barn.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/assassination/ |title=American Experience &#124; The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln |publisher=PBS |access-date=December 14, 2012}}</ref><ref name="The Madman and the Assassin">{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=103}}</ref> Booth screamed in pain and fell to the ground.<ref>{{cite book|title=Terry Alford, Fortune's Fool: The Life of John Wilkes Booth}}</ref>

[[File:Garrett Farm.gif|thumb|The [[porch]] of the Garrett farmhouse, where Booth died]]
Doherty, Conger and several soldiers rushed into the burning barn and carried the mortally wounded Booth out. Corbett and the other soldiers noted a sense of cosmic justice in that Booth was shot in the same spot he shot Lincoln.<ref name="The Madman and the Assassin"/><ref name="Goodrich 2005 227–228">{{harvnb|Goodrich|2005|pp=227–228}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Death of John Wilkes Booth, 1865|url=http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/booth.htm|publisher=Eyewitness to History/Ibis Communications|access-date=August 16, 2012|quote=the bullet struck Booth in the back of the head, about an inch below the spot where his shot had entered the head of Mr. Lincoln.}}</ref> The bullet had pierced three of Booth's [[vertebrae]] and partially severed his [[spinal cord]], [[paralysis|paralyzing]] him.<ref name="Goodrich, p. 211">Goodrich, p. 211.</ref><ref name=Smith210>Smith, pp. 210–213.</ref> [[Mary C. Ames|Mary Clemmer Ames]] would later write, "The balls entered the skull of each at nearly the same spot, but the trifling difference made an immeasurable difference...Mr. Lincoln was unconscious...Booth suffered as exquisite agony as if he had been [[Breaking wheel|broken on a wheel]]."<ref name="Clemmer">[https://archive.org/details/tenyearsinwashi03clemgoog Clemmer, Mary. ''Ten Years in Washington: Life and Scenes in the National Capital as a Woman Sees Them.''] Cincinnati: Queen City Publishing Company, 1874.</ref> Conger initially thought Booth had shot himself, though [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] [[Lafayette C. Baker]] was certain he did not. Corbett stepped forward and admitted he was the shooter, giving Doherty his gun.<ref name="The Madman and the Assassin"/><ref>{{harvnb|Jameson|2013|p=135}}</ref> Doherty, Baker and Conger questioned Corbett, who said he had intended to merely wound Booth in the shoulder but that either his aim slipped or Booth moved when Corbett fired. Initial statements by Doherty and others made no mention of Corbett having violated any orders, nor do they suggest that he would face disciplinary action for shooting Booth.<ref name="Chicago Review Press"/> According to legend, when asked why he had violated orders, Corbett replied, "[[Divine providence|Providence]] directed me."<ref name="Swanson340">{{harvnb|Swanson|2007|p=340}}</ref> Author Scott Martelle disputes this, noting "his initial statement, and those by Baker, Conger, and Doherty don't mention Providence...those details came long after the shooting itself, amid the swirl of rumor and conjecture and considerable lobbying over the reward money."

Booth asked for water.<ref name="Chicago Review Press">{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=104}}</ref> Conger and Baker poured water into his mouth, which he immediately spat out, unable to swallow; his wounds prevented him. 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," Booth 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."<ref>Swanson, p. 139.</ref> At sunrise, Booth remained in agonizing pain; his pulse weakened 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. Booth then began gasping for air as his throat continued to swell, and he made a gurgling sound, before he expired from [[asphyxia]]. Booth died approximately two to three hours after Corbett shot him.

Doherthy told Corbett to ride to some neighbouring farms to find breakfast for the men. Corbett did so but first "rode off to a spot when I could be alone and pray, and when I had gone through my usual morning prayer, I asked the Lord in regard to the shooting. At once, I was filled with praise, for I felt a clear consciousness that it was an act of duty in the sight of God." Corbett found supplies for half the men and they finished their meal before Booth died.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=105}}</ref> Conger and Corbett rode off to Washington.<ref name="Martelle-2015">{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=106}}</ref>

[[File:boston corbett.jpg|upright|thumb|right|Boston Corbett]]

====Fame====
[[File:Sergt. Boston Corbett, 16th N.Y. Cav., who shot J. Wilkes Booth, April 26, 1865 - Brady, Washington. LCCN2016646195.jpg|thumb|right|Corbett photographed by [[Mathew Brady]]]]
According to Johnson, Corbett was accompanied by Lt. Doherty to the [[United States Department of War|War Department]] in [[Washington, D.C.]] to meet [[Edwin Stanton|Secretary Edwin Stanton]] about Booth's shooting. Edward Steers writes that it was "not against orders. Conger (said)..."They had no orders either to fire or not to fire."<ref>{{cite book|last=Steers|first=Edward |title=Blood on the Moon: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|year=2005|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=0-813-19151-3|pages=104–105}}</ref> 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."<ref name="goodrich227">{{harvnb|Goodrich|2005|p=227}}</ref> Corbett maintained that he did not 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.<ref name="Chicago Review Press"/> 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."<ref name="goodrich227"/> Martelle says that "no other source mentions such a meeting...Johnson's memoir, which came out a half-century later, is just another part of the lore."<ref name="Martelle-2015a">{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=110}}</ref> 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:

{{blockquote|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."<ref name="Goodrich 2005 227–228">{{harvnb|Goodrich|2005|pp=227–228}}</ref>}}

Corbett testified in the trial for the Lincoln assassination conspirators, testifying on May 17, 1865.<ref name="Steers Jr. 2010 94">{{Cite book |last=Steers Jr. |first=Edward |url=https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Trial/3BJv0EPr7ygC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=boston+corbett++He+was+taking+aim+with+the+carbine,+but+at+whom+I+could+not+say.+My+mind+was+upon+him+attentively+to+see+that+he+did+no+harm,+and+when+I+became+impressed+that+it+was+time+I+shot+him.+I+took+steady+aim+on+my+arm,+and+shot+him+through+a+large+crack+in+the+barn&pg=PA94&printsec=frontcover |title=The Trial: The Assassination of President Lincoln |date=2010|publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-7275-0 |pages=94 |language=en |chapter=The Gay Lincoln Myth}}</ref>

Corbett was largely considered a hero by the public and press. Initial newspaper reporters described him as a simple and humble man devoted, possibly excessively to his faith, and had eccentricities but also did his duty well.<ref name="Martelle-2015a"/> One newspaper editor declared that Corbett would, "live as one of the World's great avengers."<ref>{{harvnb|Goodrich|2005|p=228}}</ref> For his part in Booth's capture, Corbett received a portion of the $100,000 reward money, amounting to $1,653.84 ({{Inflation|US|1653.84|1865|r=-3|fmt=eq}}).<ref name="goodrich291">{{harvnb|Goodrich|2005|p=291}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Swanson|2007|p=358}}</ref> His annual salary as a U.S. sergeant was $204 ({{Inflation|US|204|1865|r=-3|fmt=eq}}). 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."<ref name="basler">{{harvnb|Basler|1965|pp=57–58}}</ref>  Corbett also declined an offer for one of Booth's pistols as he did not want a reminder of shooting Booth.<ref name="basler"/>

====Negative responses====
Later newspapers accounts began to offer some criticism of Corbett's actions, that he had acted wilfully and against orders when he shot Booth (no orders were actually issued on whether Booth should be taken alive).<ref name="Martelle-2015"/> Richard Garrett, the owner of the farm on which Booth died, and his 12-year-old son Robert said years later that Booth had never reached for his gun.<ref>{{harvnb|Nottingham|1997|p=148}}</ref> Steers disputes this, noting that this contradicts original accounts.

==Post-war life==
Southern sympathizers sent letters threatening to kill Corbett, so he kept a gun nearby at all times to defend himself.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=118}}</ref> After his discharge from the army in August 1865, Corbett went back to work as a milliner in Boston and frequently attended the Bromfield Street Church. When the hatting business in Boston slowed, Corbett moved to [[Danbury, Connecticut]], to continue his work and also "preached in the country round about." By 1870, he had relocated once again to [[Camden, New Jersey]], where he was known as a "Methodist lay preacher", while also continuing to be a milliner.<ref name="Boston Corbett">{{cite web|url=https://camdenhistory.com/people/boston-corbett|title="Boston Corbett, Camden History"}}</ref> Corbett's inability to hold a job was attributed to his fanatical behavior; he was routinely fired after continuing his habit of stopping work to pray for his co-workers.<ref name="Frazier 5">{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19670103&id=BqpVAAAAIBAJ&pg=7151,566580|title=The Strange Fate Of Boston Corbett|last=Frazier|first=Robert B.|date=January 3, 1967|work=Eugene Register-Guard|page=5|access-date=November 22, 2014}}</ref> In an effort to earn money, Corbett capitalized on his role as "Lincoln's Avenger".<ref name="Walker 1998 161"/> He gave lectures about the shooting of Booth accompanied by illustrated [[lantern slide]]s at Sunday schools, women's groups and tent meetings. Corbett was never asked back due to his increasingly erratic behavior and incoherent speeches.<ref name="Frazier 5"/>

R. B. Hoover, a man who later befriended Corbett, recalled that Corbett believed "men who were high in authority at Washington at the time of the assassination" were hounding him. Corbett said the men were angry because he had deprived them of prosecuting and executing John Wilkes Booth themselves. He also believed the same men had gotten him fired from various jobs.<ref name="sparks">{{harvnb|Sparks|Everett|Lowell|Lodge|1889|p=382}}</ref> Corbett's paranoia was furthered by [[hate mail]] he received for killing Booth. He became fearful that "Booth's Avengers" or organizations like the "Secret Order" were planning to seek revenge upon him and took to carrying a pistol with him at all times. As his paranoia increased, Corbett began brandishing his pistol at friends or strangers he deemed suspicious.<ref name="goodrich291"/>

While attending the Soldiers' Reunion of the Blue and Gray in [[Caldwell, Ohio]], in 1875, Corbett got into an argument with several men over the death of John Wilkes Booth. The men questioned if Booth had really been killed at all which enraged Corbett. He then drew his pistol on the men but was removed from the reunion before he could fire it.<ref name="sparks"/> In 1878, Corbett moved to [[Concordia, Kansas]], where he acquired a plot of land through [[Homestead principle|homesteading]] upon which he constructed a [[Dugout (shelter)|dugout]] home. He continued working as a preacher and attended [[revival meeting]]s frequently.<ref name="johnson51">{{harvnb|Johnson|1914|p=51}}</ref> Throughout the rest of his life, he began to become paranoid that Booth family or friends would come and kill him, causing him to go insane.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}}}

==Disappearance==
Due to his fame as "Lincoln's Avenger", Corbett was appointed assistant doorkeeper of the [[Kansas House of Representatives]] in [[Topeka]] in January 1887. On February 15, he became convinced that 
officers of the House were discriminating against him. He jumped to his feet, brandished a revolver and began chasing the officers out of the building. No one was hurt and Corbett was arrested. The following day, a judge declared Corbett insane and sent him to the [[Topeka State Hospital|Topeka Asylum for the Insane]]. On May 26, 1888, he escaped from the asylum on horseback.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Walker|first=Dale|date=September 2005|title=The Mad Hatter|journal=American Cowboy|volume=12|issue=3|page=82|issn=1079-3690|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c-oCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA82|access-date=March 27, 2015}}</ref> He then rode to [[Neodesha, Kansas]], where he briefly stayed with Richard Thatcher. When Corbett left, he told Thatcher he was going to Mexico.<ref name="johnson51"/>

Conjecture arose that rather than going to Mexico, Corbett may have settled in a cabin he built in the forests near [[Hinckley, Minnesota|Hinckley]], in [[Pine County, Minnesota|Pine County]] in eastern [[Minnesota]] and that he died in the [[Great Hinckley Fire]] on September&nbsp;1, 1894. This conjecture was based on speculation about the name "Thomas Corbett" appearing on the list of dead, and a secondhand account by someone who said the fire victim had claimed to be Boston Corbett.<ref name=Herald>''Lincoln Herald, Volume 86'', Lincoln Memorial University Press., 1984, pp. 152–155</ref><ref name=Kubicek>Kubicek, Earl C, "The Case of the Mad Hatter", ''Lincoln Herald, Volume 83'', Lincoln Memorial University Press, 1981, pp. 708–719</ref> Scott Martelle cited it as "too tenuous a connection to credit."<ref name="Martelle-2015b">{{cite book|last1=Martelle|first1=Scott|title=The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth|date=2015|publisher=Chicago Review Press|page=189}}</ref>{{efn|Writer [[Dale L. Walker]] proposed Corbett as a [[Jack the Ripper suspects|suspect]] in the [[Jack the Ripper]] murders of 1888.<ref name="Walker1998">{{cite book|author=Dale L. Walker|title=Legends and Lies: Great Mysteries of the American West|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lDAYE5C7XSgC&pg=PA126|date=15 November 1998|publisher=Tom Doherty Associates|isbn=978-0-312-86848-2|page=126}}</ref>}}

===Imposters===
In the years following Corbett's disappearance, several men came forward claiming to be him. 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 [[St. Elizabeths Hospital|Government Hospital for the Insane]].<ref>{{harvnb|Johnson|1914|pp=52–53}}</ref>

==Legacy==
Scott Martelle who wrote the 2015 biography, "The Madman and the Assassin: The Strange Life of Boston Corbett, the Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth" called Corbett "the closest to an average, everyday person...a regular, run-of-the-mill American—albeit a strange one—who did his job as a hatter, and then as a soldier".<ref name="Martelle-2015b"/>

===Memorials===
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 dugout where Corbett had lived for a time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/16178|title=He Killed Lincoln's Killer, Then Lived In a Hole|access-date=October 10, 2008|work=Roadside America}}</ref>

===Portrayals===
A fictional version of Corbett appears in the novel [[Andersonville (novel)|''Andersonville'']] (1955). [[Dabbs Greer]] played an entirely fictitious version of Corbett in the ''[[Lawman (TV series)|Lawman]]'' episode "The Unmasked" (1962), in which Corbett is living under the name "Joe Brockway" as a hotel owner in Laramie, Wyoming. Two former Confederate soldiers search for "Brockway" to kill him for his killing of Booth. Corbett is portrayed by [[William Mark McCullough]] in the series ''[[Manhunt (miniseries)|Manhunt]]'' (2024).{{efn|Coincidentally, McCullough previously portrayed John Wilkes Booth in the documentary ''Lincoln's Last Day'' (2015).}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography|American Civil War}}
*[[Edward P. Doherty]]
*[[Everton Conger|Everton J. Conger]]
*[[Lafayette C. Baker]]
*[[List of people who disappeared mysteriously: pre-1970|List of people who disappeared]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
* {{cite book|title=The Assassination and History of the Conspiracy|last=Basler|first=Roy|publisher=Hobbs, Dorman & Company, INC.|year=1965|isbn=978-1-432-80265-3|location=New York}}
* {{cite book|last1=Chamlee|first1=Roy Z.|last2=Chamlee|first2=Roy Z. Jr.|title=Lincoln's Assassins: A Complete Account of Their Capture, Trial, and Punishment|publisher=McFarland|year=1989|isbn=978-0-89950-420-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Chipman|first=Norton Parker|title=The Horrors of Andersonville Rebel Prison: Trial of Henry Wirz, the Andersonville Jailer; Jefferson Davis' Defense of Andersonville Prison Fully Refuted|url=https://archive.org/details/horrorsanderson00chipgoog|publisher=Bancroft Co.|year=1891}}
* {{cite book|last=Goodrich|first=Thomas|title=The Darkest Dawn: Lincoln, Booth, and the Great American Tragedy |year=2005|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-11132-6}}
* {{cite book|last=Jameson|first=W. C. |title=John Wilkes Booth: Beyond the Grave|year=2013|publisher=Taylor Trade Publishing|isbn=978-1-589-79832-8 }}
* {{cite book|last=Johnson|first=Byron Berkeley |title=Abraham Lincoln and Boston Corbett: With Personal Recollections of Each; John Wilkes Booth and Jefferson Davis, a True Story of Their Capture|url=https://archive.org/details/abrahamlincoln1910john|year=1914|publisher=B. B. Johnson}}
* {{cite book|last=Kauffman|first=Michael W.|title=American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies|publisher=Random House|year=2004|isbn=978-0-375-50785-4}}
* {{cite book|last=Nottingham|first=Theodore J. |title=The Curse of Cain: The Untold Story of John Wilkes Booth|year=1997|publisher=Theosis Books|isbn=978-1-580-06021-9}}
* {{cite book|last1=Sparks |first1=Jared|author-link1=Jared Sparks|last2=Everett|first2=Edward|author-link2=Edward Everett|last3=Lowell|first3=James Russell |author-link3=James Russell Lowell|last4=Lodge|first4=Henry Cabot|author-link4=Henry Cabot Lodge|others=Making of America Project|title=The North American Review, Volume 149|year=1889|publisher=University of Northern Iowa}}
* {{cite book|title=Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer|last=Swanson|first=James L.|publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|year=2007|isbn=978-0-06-051850-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/manhunt00jame}}
* {{cite book|last1=Walker|first1=Dale L.|last2=Jakes|first2=John|title=Legends and Lies: Great Mysteries of the American West|publisher=Macmillan|year=1998|isbn=978-0-312-86848-2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Boston Corbett}}
* [http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln32.html Boston Corbett: The Man Who Killed John Wilkes Booth]
* [http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/239 Photo on Kansas Memory website]

{{Cloud County History}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corbett, Boston}}
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