Corbett killed Booth, against orders, and this was an event that would define his life. However, both before and after this infamous act, Corbett was an individual shrouded in tragedy and intrigue.<\/p>\n
Who was Boston Corbett?<\/h2>\n
Corbett hailed from Britain. Born in London in 1832, Corbett emigrated to the US around 1839 with his family, settling in New York City.<\/p>\n
He initially worked as a hat maker \u2013 notably, a trade known for its prominent use of mercury. The element\u2019s use would be the subject of much speculation in later years, as the inhalation of mercury vapour came to be known to cause symptoms including psychosis, and excitability (the symptoms became so common in hatters that the phrase \u201cmad as a hatter\u201d was born).<\/p>\n
Corbett\u2019s life would go on to be shaped by his immense devotion to the Christian faith. After the loss of his wife, who died during childbirth, Corbett found purpose in religion after becoming a regular attendee of street preaching congregations.<\/p>\n
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In the late 1850s, his evangelism led him to change his first name from Thomas (or Tom), to \u2018Boston\u2019, as it was in Boston, Massachusetts, that he devoted himself to religion.<\/p>\n
Such was the fervour of his faith, Corbett became a street preacher and, in order to address his sexual impulses, he\u2019s recorded as having castrated himself with scissors.<\/p>\n
![\"An]( "\\"An")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>The death of John Wilkes Booth. (Photo by Kean Collection\/Archive Photos\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n Boston Corbett\u2019s role in the Civil War<\/h2>\n
Upon the outbreak of the American Civil War<\/a>, Corbett enlisted in the Union Army in 1861, and he fought with the 16th New York Cavalry after re-enlisting in 1863.<\/p>\n
He military record is largely unremarkable, though there are some tales of him demonstrating particular courage and conviction.<\/p>\n
During the height of the war, Corbett was confined as a prisoner of war at the notorious Andersonville Prison where he was subject to appalling conditions and contracted a handful of illnesses and diseases. However, he ultimately survived the ordeal, and was released in late 1864, when he would then recover in hospital.<\/p>\n
A few months after his release, the war effectively ended when Confederate general Robert E Lee surrendered to Union forces.<\/p>\n
Boston Corbett\u2019s part in the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth<\/h2>\n
On the evening of 14 April 1865, John Wilkes Booth fatally shot President Abraham Lincoln at Ford\u2019s Theatre.<\/p>\n
Twelve days later, on 26 April 1865, amid the chaos following the assassination, Corbett was a member of the Union Army detachment pursuing Booth as part of a large-scale manhunt organised by high-level Washington figures including US secretary of war Edwin Stanton<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Corbett was among those who helped to encircle Booth within a barn in Garrett Farm, Virginia, while their leader, Lieutenant Edward P Doherty, engaged in a back-and-forth conversation with Booth, trying to lure him out.<\/p>\n
Hours later, patience had run dry.<\/p>\n
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