General Notes

Custom Field:<_FA#> Served in the Confederacy, 12th Louisiana Infantry Regiment., Company H.@@S726784@@Date of Import: Jul 31, 2003
[coosa1.ged]
Asa Melton Waldrip was born 17 October, 1843 in Chambers Co., AL  - the
youngest son of a Methodist minister. Asa's family moved to Coosa Co., AL
about 1850/53. They resided around Central, AL for a few years, moving on
to Jackson Parish, LA about 1860. During this time, his brother Sanford
Byrd, and two of his sisters had married and made their own homes in
Coosa County.
Shortly after their move to Louisiana, the Civil War began.  Asa
answered the call, enlisting in the 12th Louisiana Infantry Regiment at
Monroe, LA on 27 Feb 1862. The 12th Regiment was one of the crack
regiments of the Confederacy and was heavily engaged throughout the years
of war. It suffered greater losses than any other LA regiment. From a
muster roll of 1,457, this regiment counted 304 killed in battle and 302
died from disease. The 12th Regiment fought in 146 engagements, fighting
101 day "straight fight". Asa was wounded three times. The third occasion
was late in 1864, during the Battle of Atlanta. With the Confederate Army
disintegrating and with a wound in his leg, Asa struck out for home - on
foot! In route, he found maggots developing in his wound. He secured a
bottle of turpentine, cleansed his wound and continued on to Wetumpka, AL.
In Wetumpka, Asa stayed with is brother Sanford Byrd. Byrd had
married Elizabeth Sears (called Nettie). It was in Byrd and Nettie's home
that Asa met her younger sister, Martha Thomas Sears. She and Asa were
married on 23 May 1865, in Coosa Co., AL.
They established a home on Hatchett Creek, north of Rockford, AL, and
raised a large family. A few years later, they built a second home just
west of Sears Chapel. There they lived most of their lives. The house,
although considerably deteriorated, still stands today.
Census of Confederate Soldiers Residing in Alabama, 1907. Located in
Alabama Archives and History, Montgomery, AL.
#111. Asa Milton Waldrip, Present P. O. Address, Rockford, AL. Was born
in on Oct 17th of 1843 at Oak Bowery in county of Chambers in state of
Alabama; First entered the service as Private on Feb 27, 1861 at Monroe,
La. in Co. H, 12th La Reg and continued until surrender of Gen Johnston.
THE CHRONICLE
"A. M. Waldrip, Jno. W. Waldrip and J. G. Waldrip, of Rockford, and J. R.
Waldrip, of Hanover, attended the reunion of the confederate veterans at
Mobile last week."(1)
Local and Personal
"Uncle Asa Waldrip, living about three miles north of here, says that the
injury to garden truck in his neighborhood was serious, but the general
farm crop is not seriously hurt."(2)
Local and Personal
"A. M. Waldrip, of Sears Chapel neighborhood, reports a cabbage head
weighting 12 pounds and measuring 31 inches in circumference."(3)
Local and Personal
"A. M. Waldrip of the Sears Chapel neighborhood, was in town the early
part of the week, and is yet suffering from an injury received by being
thrown from his buggy a few weeks ago. He thinks that one or more of his
ribs were fractured."(4)
Local and Personal
"A. M. Waldrip, of Sears Chapel, was in Rockford Friday. He was persuring
the papers to learn what he could to the satus of the war spirit between
the U. S. and Mexico."(5)
Local and Personal
"A. M. Waldrip and son, Smith, were in town Saturday. Uncle Asa has just
returned from a visit to his brother, Bird Waldrip, who lives in Elmore
county, near Deatsville. He found his brother in feeble health."(6)
Local and Personal
"A. M. Waldrip, of Sears Chapel neighborhood, was in town Wednesday. He
said he was going to the annual Conference at Sylacauga the first of
Nov., a privilege he never had before. He wants to hear a Bishop
preach."(7)
(1)The Chronicle, 6 May 1910, p. 4. Printed in Rockford, Coosa Co., AL.
Microfilm: Located in the Alabama Archives and History, Mont