The Battle of Marianna, Florida

Alexander Asboth came to Florida
near the end of an unusual military
career.

Born in Hungary in 1811, Asboth was
an educated engineer who had
served as a commissioned officer in
the Austrian army before his native
country revolted against the Austrians
in 1848. Giving his allegiance to his
native land, Asboth became a devoted
follower of Hungary's governor, Lajos
Kossuth. Inspired by the example of
the American Revolution, Kossuth
was attempting to establish an
American-styled democracy in
Europe. The Hapsburgs of Austria
and their allies, the Romanovs of
Russia, were extremely opposed to
such an effort and joined forces to
crush the Hungarians.

As war spread across Europe, Asboth
served as an advisor and aide to
Kossuth and also performed
well-regarded services in the field.
When Kossuth and his followers
were defeated and fled the country,
Asboth was the sole other rider in
Kossuth's carriage.

Although the United States was
unwilling and unable to intervene
military to assist the Hungarians, the
American people sympathized with
Kossuth and his revolutionaries. As a
result, President Millard Fillmore sent
the U.S.S. Mississippi to rescue the
leaders of the movement from their
exile in Turkey and they arrived in New
York to widespread acclaim in 1851.

After a tour of both North and South,
Kossuth returned to Europe. Asboth,
however, was enamored with the
United States, which he called the
"best government on earth" and
chose to remain behind. He settled in
New York where he worked as an
industrialist, surveyor and engineer
and became a naturalized citizen. He
established acquaintances with a
number of key individuals of the time,
including American explorer John C.
Fremont and the noted landscape
architect Frederick Law Olmstead.
Through his association with
Olmstead, the Hungarian refugee
was hired to conduct the surveys that
established the boundaries of today's
Central Park in New York City.

When war erupted between the North and
South, Asboth offered his services to the
War Department and soon found himself in
Missouri where he became the chief of staff
for his old acquaintance, Fremont, who
was then organizing an army to help keep
Missouri in the Union. Asboth served under
Fremont until that officer was replaced. He
commanded a division at the Battle of Pea
Ridge, Arkansas, where he was severely
wounded but was credited by many with
playing a crucial role in stopping the final
Condederate advance on the first day of
fighting. One eyewitness described his
conduct at Pea Ridge as "truly heroic."

After Pea Ridge, Congress confirmed his
rank as a brigadier general of U.S.
volunteers and he went on to serve in both
combat and administrative roles in
Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky. He
assumed command of the Federal District
of West Florida on November 9, 1863, and
established his headquarters at Fort
Barrancas.

By all accounts, Asboth was a
well-educated and intelligent man with a
thick Hungarian accent. He was fiercely
dedicated to the Union and claims that he
was a "soldier of fortune" are inaccurate.

The general, incidentally, also was an
animal lover and -in addition to his
greyhounds and horses - collected wild
animals from his various stations and had
them shipped to the zoo at Central Park.
While in Florida, for example, he sent the
zoo its first specimen of a Florida black
bear. Asboth also had a notorious sweet
tooth and was reported on one occasion to
have eaten an entire jar of peach preserves
to the astonishment of his hosts.

His fellow officers described him as
personally brave.