Editing Boston Corbett (section)

==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,{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=22}} 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 always carried a Bible with him 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.{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=38}}

===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 leaped 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 later related to friends that the man who saved his life was Mosby, though this is dubious.{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=42}}

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."{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=50}} 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. A two-hour procession down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol Building took place during [[funeral and burial of Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln's funeral]]. 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 Canadian-born Lt. [[Edward P. 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.{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=98}} 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.{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=101}} 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 [[Spencer repeating rifle|Spencer]] [[carbine]] and several revolvers.<ref name="Steers2010">{{cite book|last=Steers|first=Edward|title=The Trial: The Assassination of President Lincoln and the Trial of the Conspirators|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3BJv0EPr7ygC&pg=PA93|date=12 September 2010|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-8131-2724-8|page=93}}</ref>) 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 extinguish the fire.{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=102}} Corbett claimed that he saw Booth aim his carbine, prompting him to shoot at Booth through the crack with his [[Colt's Manufacturing Company|Colt revolver]], mortally wounding him. 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>

{{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 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3BJv0EPr7ygC&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 |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>}}
[[File:Frank Leslie's Illustrated News CROPPED The killing of Booth, the assassin - the dying murderer drawn from the barn where he head taken refuge, on Garrett's farm, near Port Royal, Va., April 26, 1865 LCCN2001697354.jpg|thumb|"The killing of Booth, the assassin{{mdash}}the dying murderer drawn from the barn where he had taken refuge, on Garrett's farm, near Port Royal, Va., April 26, 1865" (''[[Frank Leslie's Illustrated News]]'') ]]
[[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 Booth out. Assessing his condition, Corbett and others felt a cosmic justice in that Booth's entry wound was in the same spot he shot Lincoln.{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=103}}<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]] struck Booth in the back of the head behind his left ear and passed through his neck.<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>{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=103}} Three of Booth's [[vertebrae]] were pierced and his [[spinal cord]] was partially severed, leaving him completely [[paralysis|paralyzed]].<ref name="Goodrich, p. 211">Goodrich, p. 211.</ref><ref name=Smith210>Smith, pp. 210–213.</ref> As [[Mary C. Ames|Mary Clemmer Ames]] would later put it, "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 had not. Corbett stepped forward and admitted he shot Booth, giving Doherty his gun.{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=103}}<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 did they suggest that he would face disciplinary action for shooting Booth.{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=104}} According to later sources, 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."

Dragged to the porch of Garrett's farmhouse, Booth asked for water.{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=104}} Conger and Baker poured some into his mouth, which he immediately spat out, unable to swallow. Booth asked to be rolled over and turned facedown; Conger rejected the idea. "Then at least turn me on my side," Booth pleaded; the move did not relieve Booth's suffering. Baker said, "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 agony, and his breathing became more labored and irregular. Unable to move his limbs, he asked a soldier to lift his hands to his face and uttered his last words as he gazed at them: "Useless ... useless." Booth then began gasping for air as his throat continued to swell, and he made a gurgling sound before he died from [[asphyxia]], approximately two to three hours after Corbett shot him.

Doherty told Corbett to ride to neighboring 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.{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=105}} Conger and Corbett rode off to Washington.{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=106}}

[[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.{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=104}} 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."{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=110}} 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 of the Lincoln assassination conspirators, testifying on May 17, 1865.<ref name="Steers Jr. 2010 94" />

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; he had eccentricities but also did his duty well.{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=110}} 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, newspaper 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 issued on whether Booth should be taken alive).{{sfn|Martelle|2015|p=106}} 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.