Luther Baker - Boston Corbett - Abe Lincoln

[RJNorton]

I think this story is apocryphal. If it were true I think the story would be in books such as William C. Davis' Lincoln's Men. Davis has an entire chapter titled "The Quality of Mercy." There is absolutely no mention of Boston Corbett. I would also think there might be evidence of this petition and Lincoln's reply in the Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln. But Boston Corbett is not mentioned a single time in The Collected Works. I think this is the type of story that Lincoln authors would jump at if there were evidence of truthfulness, but that's just not the case.