Közlemények Zala megye közgyűjteményeinek kutatásaiból - Zalai Gyűjtemény 26. (Zalaegerszeg, 1987)

Tar Ferenc: Asboth Sándor, az amerikai polgárháború tábornoka

FERENC TAR: ALEXANDER ASBOTH, GENERAL OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. (Summary) Alexander Asboth was born on 18th December 1810 in Keszthely of Zala county. His father was a highly acknowledged agricultural expert and professor at the local Agricultural Academy, the Georgicon, established by Count George Festetics. His son, Alexander, graduated from the Budapest University as an engineer in 1834. Up to 1848 he was active as an engineer in various employments. At the outbreak of the Hungarian Freedom Fights 1848/49 he immediately volunteered for the fight against the Austrians. At the time of the collapse of the fights for independence he had the rank of a lieutenant-colonel and was the adjutant of Kossuth. Following the capitulation he stayed with the Governor and followed him into emmigration in Turkey. After two years in Turkey, Kossuth left for England and Asboth for the United States. In order to restart fights in Hungary, he organized, following instructions from Kossuth, the manufacture of arms and other war material in the neighbourhood of New York. He acted as a link between the leader of the emmigration and the Hungarians living in America. There was a frequent exhange of letters. Having arrived in America, Asboth was anxious to find employment as soon as possible. He took different jobs as an engineer in the north eastern part of the country. With one of his partners he established the biggest foundry in America; as a municipal civil engineer of New York he was the first to employ bitumen-asphalt for the pavements; he replanned the Manhattan peninsula, the Central Park and the Washington Heights. In 1861 he volunteered for the fights against the slave-keeping southern states. He started his American military career as chief of the staff for General John C. Fremont. In March 1862 he participated in the battle near Pea Ridge. Later on he was appointed military commandant of West Florida. He was wounded several times during the war. In September 1864 a bullet penetrated his skull and despite of an operation it could not be removed. This bullet caused his death four years later. At the end of the Civil War, in March 1865 he was promoted to the rank of major general. Oneyear later he was appointed ambassador of the United States to the Argentine. He died on 21 January, 1868 in Buenos Aires.