Asa W. Avery was born around 1840 in Georgia to William and Susan Avery. His father was a farmer who owned $525 of real estate in 1850. The family moved to Gadsden County, Florida, in the 1840s, and by 1860, they were living in Jackson County, Florida.

 

He enlisted in the Confederate army in Savannah, Georgia, on April 13, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company C of the 31^st Georgia Infantry. The regiment took part in the Second Battle of Manassas, the Battle of Antietam, and the Battle of Fredericksburg. He was admitted to the hospital in Danville, Virginia, on August 21, 1862, suffering from diarrhea. He returned to duty three weeks later.

 

In March 1863, he wrote that he was “tyard [tired] of war,” and he hoped that “Pease will be made soon as posobel.” Nonetheless, he remained devoted to the Confederate cause. He insisted that “the yankes are suffern as well as us And I beleave we can whip them in 3 more monts.” He was admitted to the Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, on May 1, 1863, while suffering from “debility.” Officials transferred him to Danville’s hospital on May 6, and he remained there until May 22. He fell ill again soon afterward, and he was admitted to the hospital in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, in June 1863. He died there of pneumonia on June 26, 1863.

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