Red, White & Blue American Heroes S1 E4: "Lincoln's Avenger" Boston Corbett

Boston Corbett was the man who shot the man who shot President Abraham Lincoln. He was part of the 16th New York Cavalry Regiment which was stationed in Washington D.C. that was ordered to chase down the fugitives John Wilkes Booth and his simple minded accomplice Dave Herold. The two managed to evade the local authorities for ten days before they were found hiding inside a barn in Virginia. Booth vowed to never be taken alive which caused Herold to surrender.

Corbett however was watching Booth through a crack in the wall of the barn. The soldiers set the barn on fire in order to draw him out but Booth refused to budge. Orders were given to take Booth alive but Corbett shot him in the back of the head, instantly paralyzing him. As they dragged Booth out of the fire, he suffered a similar fatal wound that he gave to Lincoln and it took him several hours to die.

Despite ignoring a direct order, Boston Corbett wasn't reprimanded and the press called him a hero, dubbing Corbett "Lincoln's Avenger." Unknown to the public, Corbett was suffering from a mental illness which was caused by his career as a hat maker. He tried to capitalize on his new found fame by giving lectures but his psychosis interfered which made it impossible to make money. It got to a point that he believed that he had enemies in the government which conspired to ruin his career as a hat maker along with a cabal of southern sympathizers known as "Booth's Avengers" were plotting to destroy his life before they took it.

Listen to the story of Boston Corbett, narrated by Walter Wright Wyngknutt!