The madman and the assassin : the strange life of Boston Corbett, the man who killed John Wilkes Booth

Martelle, Scott 1958- (Author).

Summary: As thoroughly examined as the Civil War and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth have been, virtually no attention has been paid to the life of the Union cavalryman who killed Booth, an odd character named Boston Corbett. The killing of Booth made Corbett an instant celebrity whose peculiarities made him the object of fascination and derision. Corbett was an English immigrant, a hatter by trade, who was likely poisoned by the mercury then used in the manufacturing process. A devout Christian, he castrated himself so that his sexual urges would not distract him from serving God. He was one of the first volunteers to join the US Army in the first days of the Civil War, a path that would in time land him in the notorious Andersonville prison camp, and eventually in the squadron that cornered Booth in a Virginia barn. The Madman and the Assassin is the first full-length biography of Boston Corbett, a man who was something of a prototypical modern American, thrust into the spotlight during a national news event & mdash;an unwelcome transformation from anonymity to celebrity.

Record details

ISBN: 1613730187
ISBN: 9781613730188
ISBN: 1613730195
ISBN: 9781613730195
ISBN: 1613730217
ISBN: 9781613730218
Physical Description: 1 online resource
remote
Publisher: Chicago, IL : Chicago Review Press Incorporated, 2015.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Loss and redemption -- Boston Corbett goes to war -- Andersonville: a journey to hell -- The assassin -- A president is murdered -- The hunt for Booth and Herold -- Celebrity, and infamy -- Citizen corbett, preacher -- Corbett goes west -- Corbett cracks -- The return of Boston Corbett.
Source of Description Note:	Print version record.