Asboth wanted to be a soldier, like his elder brother Lajos, but instead his parents decided he should be an engineer.

[2] After graduation he worked on the construction of the Széchenyi Chain Bridge as a civilian engineer and later he had some part in the river regulation of the Lower-Danube.

[6] Asboth later led a division under Samuel Curtis, and during the Arkansas campaign he occupied Bentonville and Fayetteville.

He participated in the Battle of Pea Ridge, leading troops at the Little Sugar Creek position.

[7] His right arm was fractured by a musket ball while bringing reinforcements to support Colonel Eugene A. Carr.

In August 1863, Asboth was assigned to the District of West Florida, with his headquarters at Fort Pickens.