Boston Corbett: Difference between revisions
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==Early life== |
==Early life== |
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Corbett was an american hero who would never had defaced himself in any way, as it was a sin in the eyes of god. god bless america. |
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Corbett was born in [[London]], [[England]]. His family emigrated to [[New York City]] in 1839. He eventually took on the trade of a [[hatter]] in [[Troy, New York]]. There has been speculation that Corbett was exposed to the fumes of [[Mercury (element)|mercury]] that were used in the hatter's trade causing Corbett's later mental problems.<ref>{{cite book|last=Walker|first=Dale L. |coauthors=Jakes, John|title=Legends and Lies: Great Mysteries of the American West|publisher=Macmillan|date=1998|pages=159|isbn=0-312-86848-0}}</ref> |
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Corbett married, but his wife died in childbirth. Following her death, he moved to [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]], and continued working as a hatter. He became a born-again evangelical [[Christian]] and changed his name to Boston, the name of the city where he was [[Born again (Christianity)|reborn]]. In an attempt to imitate [[Jesus]], he began to wear his hair very long.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kauffman|first=Michael W. |title=American Brutus: John Wilkes Booth and the Lincoln Conspiracies|publisher=Random House|date=2004|pages=310|isbn=0-375-50785-X}}</ref> On July 16, 1858, in order to avoid the temptation of prostitutes, Corbett [[castration|castrated]] himself with a pair of scissors.<ref name="Swanson329">Swanson, p.329</ref> Afterward, he ate a meal and went to a prayer meeting, before going for medical treatment.<ref name="Swanson329"/> |
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==Enlisted in the Union army== |
==Enlisted in the Union army== |
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Revision as of 07:10, 18 February 2009
Boston Corbett | |
|---|---|
 Boston Corbett | |
| Born | Thomas P. Corbett 1832 |
| Died | presumed dead 1894 |
| Occupation | Union Army sergeant |
Thomas P. "Boston" Corbett (1832 – presumed dead 1894) was the Union Army soldier who shot and killed Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. He disappeared after 1888 and is believed to have died in Minnesota in 1894, but this is unproven.
Early life
Corbett was an american hero who would never had defaced himself in any way, as it was a sin in the eyes of god. god bless america.
Enlisted in the Union army
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Corbett joined the Union army at the outbreak of the American Civil War. He re-enlisted three times and eventually obtained the rank of sergeant in the 16th New York Cavalry. He was captured by the Confederate Army on June 24, 1864, and was held captive at Andersonville prison. He was eventually exchanged and returned to his unit. He later testified for the prosecution in the trial of the commandant of Andersonville, Captain Henry Wirz.[1][2]
Assigned to pursue John Wilkes Booth
On April 24, 1865, Corbett was one of the cavalrymen sent to pursue John Wilkes Booth, who had assassinated Abraham Lincoln and was still at large. On April 26, they surrounded Booth and his accomplice, David Herold, in a tobacco barn on the Virginia farm of Richard Garrett. The barn was set on fire in an attempt to force them out. Herold surrendered, but Booth remained inside. Corbett was positioned by a large crack in the barn wall. He saw Booth moving about inside and shot him with his Colt revolver despite Secretary of War Stanton's desire that Booth be taken alive. Booth was struck in the neck, the bullet injuring his spinal cord, and he died a few hours later.
Corbett was immediately arrested for disobeying orders, but the charges were later dropped by the Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton. Later, Stanton said, "The rebel is dead. The patriot lives." Corbett received his share of the reward money, amounting to $1,653.84.[3]
In his official statement, Corbett claimed he shot Booth because he thought Lincoln's assassin was preparing to use his weapons. This claim was denied by other witnesses. When asked later why he did it, Corbett said that "Providence directed me."[4]
Civilian life after the Union army
Shortly after being discharged from the army, Corbett returned to his trade of being a hatter, first in Boston, and later in Connecticut and New Jersey. His later life involved increasingly erratic behavior. In 1875, he threatened several men with a pistol at a soldier's reunion in Caldwell, Ohio. In 1878, he moved to Concordia, Kansas, where he lived in a hole dug into a hillside. In 1887, he was appointed assistant doorkeeper of the Kansas House of Representatives in Topeka, Kansas. Overhearing a conversation in which the legislature's opening prayer was mocked, he jumped to his feet and brandished a revolver. No one was hurt but Corbett was arrested, declared insane, and sent to the Topeka Asylum for the Insane. On May 26, 1888, Corbett escaped from the asylum. He went to Neodesha, Kansas, and stayed briefly with Richard Thatcher, a man he had met during his imprisonment at Andersonville in the Civil War. When he left, he said he was heading for Mexico.[5]
Corbett possibly settled in the forests near Hinckley, Minnesota and died in the Great Hinckley Fire that took place there on September 1, 1894. There is no definitive proof of his demise, but the name "Thomas Corbett" appears on the list of the dead and missing.
In 1958, Boy Scout Troop 31 of Concordia, Kansas constructed a roadside monument to Corbett located on Key Road in Concordia. A small wood sign was also constructed to mark the hillside hole Corbett once occupied.[6]
Further reading
- Swanson, James L. (2007). Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-051850-9.
Technically speaking, Boston Corbett lived closer to Aurora, Kansas then Concordia, and actually served time in the Aurora Jail which was the first jail in Cloud County .
References
- ^ Chamlee, Roy Z. (1989). Lincoln's Assassins: A Complete Account of Their Capture, Trial, and Punishment. McFarland. p. 289. ISBN 0-899-50420-5.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Chipman, Norton Parker (1891). The Horrors of Andersonville Rebel Prison: Trial of Henry Wirz, the Andersonville Jailer; Jefferson Davis' Defense of Andersonville Prison Fully Refuted. Bancroft Co. p. 40.
- ^ Swanson, p.358
- ^ Swanson, p.340
- ^ Johnson, Byron Berkeley (1914). Abraham Lincoln and Boston Corbett: With Personal Recollections of Each; John Wilkes Booth and Jefferson Davis, a True Story of Their Capture. B.B. Johnson. pp. 52–53.
- ^ "He Killed Lincoln's Killer, Then Lived In A Hole". Retrieved 2008-10-11.