Boston Corbett was the deeply eccentric Union soldier who famously shot and killed John Wilkes Booth, but he is equally notable for having casually castrated himself with a pair of scissors.

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Boston Corbett was the deeply eccentric Union soldier who famously shot and killed John Wilkes Booth, but he is equally notable for having casually castrated himself with a pair of scissors. Years before he became a celebrated national hero for avenging Abraham Lincoln, Corbett was a fanatical street preacher who violently amputated his own testicles to avoid the sinful temptations of local prostitutes. After successfully completing his own unhinged backyard surgery, he calmly attended a prayer meeting and ate a full meal before finally bothering to visit a screaming medical professional. He later went entirely insane while working as a doorkeeper for the Kansas state legislature, randomly pulling out a revolver and aggressively chasing lawmakers out of the building. Handing a loaded weapon to a completely unhinged religious zealot who enthusiastically performs his own genital mutilation remains a remarkably bold military strategy