Cicero Rufus (Old Rufe) Perry was born 1822 in Alabama. He participated in the Siege of Béxar, served from July 1 to October 1, 1836, in Capt. William W. Hill’s company of Texas Rangers, and was involved in an Indian fight on Yegua Creek. He was wounded on February 12, 1839, while serving under John H. Moore. In 1841 he served under Samuel Highsmith and Thomas Green and scouted for Edward Burleson and Mark B. Lewis. He was also a member of the Somervell expedition. He joined John Coffee Hays’ ranger company in 1844 and participated in many of his Indian fights, including the battle of Walker’s Creek. In August 1844 he was severely wounded in a fight with the Comanches on the Nueces River, and he and Christopher Acklin were left for dead by their two companions. With three wounds, Perry walked 120 miles, from near Uvalde to San Antonio, unarmed and without food or water. In 1873 in the battle of Deer Creek he came to the assistance of a party led by Dan W. Roberts. In 1874 Perry was appointed captain of Company D of the Frontier Battalion. Roberts served as his first lieutenant and later as his successor. Perry died at Johnson City on October 7, 1898.
Cassiano, José
José Cassiano was born Giuseppe Cassini in San Remo, Italy, the son of Geronimo and Catalina Cassini. He arrived in New Orleans on November 20, 1816, with a British passport, as a resident of Gibraltar. In New Orleans he became a successful merchant and property owner. In connection with his business he made frequent trips to Texas and sometime in the 1820s moved to San Antonio, where he opened a store.
During the Siege of Béxar in December 1835 his home and store with its supplies were turned over to the revolutionary army. In 1835–36 he served as a scout along the Rio Grande. Just before the attack on the Alamo he sent messages to William B. Travis on the movements of Antonio López de Santa Anna. He made substantial contributions to finance the revolution. His aid to the cause of independence was recognized when Thomas J. Rusk, secretary of war, issued instructions on June 21, 1836, that Cassiano be permitted to travel freely between Texas and the United States.
Cassiano died on January 1, 1862, and is buried in San Fernando Cemetery in San Antonio.
Jennings, Gordon C.
Gordon C. Jennings was born 1780 in Connecticut. He took part in the Siege of Béxar as a corporal in Capt. William R. Carey’s artillery company. Jennings was the Alamo’s oldest defender at age fifty-six. He died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. His brother, Charles B. Jennings, died in the Goliad Massacre.
Robbins, Nathaniel
Nathaniel Robbins and Dr. Lewis R. Dayton protested to the Mexican government because United States authorities were taxing the inhabitants of Pecan Point. In 1835 Robbins attended the Consultation at San Felipe de Austin. During the Texas Revolution he served as a private in Capt. Thomas J. Rusk’s company at the Siege of Béxar and participated in the Grass Fight. With the honorary rank of colonel, Robbins was commissioned by Gen. Sam Houston to “seize all arms and guns, and such weapons of war as may be useful to the army” and to “arrest all deserters from the army.” On August 8, 1836, Robbins received Houston’s appointment as collector of public property, and on September 10 he enlisted as a private in Capt. Elisha Clapp’s company at Mustang Prairie. Robbins was discharged on December 10. He was said to have had great influence among the Indians of the region, and on November 8, 1836, he received Houston’s appointment and the Senate’s confirmation as commissioner to the Indians. He died sometime between December 1836 and April 1837.
Nava, Andrés
Andrés Nava was born 1810 in Texas. He was one of a group of native Texans who enlisted for six months service under the command of Juan N. Seguín. He took part in the Siege of Béxar and served in the Alamo garrison as a member of Seguín’s company. Nava died in the battle of the Alamo on March 6, 1836. Demasio de los Reyes, who had been ordered into the Alamo to remove bodies to be burned, recognized Nava’s body in the ruins and later swore to this fact. Nava’s half-brother, Carmel Gonzara, and his sister, Dorotea Muñís, swore in an application for a grant of land that Nava died at the Alamo. On March 25, 1861, a note was placed in their file stating that they were too poor to carry the claim any further.
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