Louis Kleberg was born 1802 in Westphalia, Prussia. When volunteers were called for in the Texas struggle for independence, Kleberg served from October 29, 1835, until January 18, 1836. He saw service at the Siege of Béxar in Capt. Thomas F. L. Parrott’s company. Indian raids along the upper Brazos, Colorado, and Trinity rivers drew him into military service again in 1839. On April 21 he joined a company of fifty-nine men under the command of Capt. John Bird. The company marched to Fort Milam near the site of present Marlin by May 6. They lived on frugal rations in poor camps and tracked Indians. On June 25 they reached a deserted fort on the Little River. The next morning the volunteers pursued a group of Indians they discovered near the fort. By the time they reached the site presently known as Bird’s Creek, the Indians numbered several hundred. A struggle known as the Bird’s Creek Indian Fight ensued. In it the Texans eventually drove away the Indians, but both sides sustained heavy losses. Captain Bird and the Indian chief, Buffalo Hump, both died. Kleberg was one of the few surviving Texans. He died on July 1, 1847, and is buried in a small cemetery on private property near Millheim in Austin County.

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John Freeman Pettus was born 1808 in Virginia. He participated in the Siege of Béxar in December 1835 and served as second lieutenant of Capt. Moseley Baker’s Company D of Col. Edward Burleson’s First Regiment, Texas Volunteers, at the battle of San Jacinto, where he lost a pack mule valued at $50. He was discharged on May 29, 1836, but reenlisted in Capt. John Yorkqv’s company on July 1 and served until November 20, 1836.

Benjamin Franklin (Frank) Hardin was born 1803 in Georgia. He moved to Texas in 1826 and served under Stephen F. Austin against the Fredonian Rebellion of 1827. He was first lieutenant of infantry and fought in the Siege of Béxar under Col. Francis White Johnson. Hardin served as a lieutenant in Capt. William M. Logan’s company until June 1836. He carried the San Jacinto victory dispatch for Sam Houston to the United States border. Between July 7, 1836, and October 7, 1836, he was captain of a newly organized company and joined an expedition against the Indians. Hardin was put in charge of guarding Mexican officers interned at his brother’s plantation until they were repatriated in 1837. He was Liberty county surveyor (1838–45) and served as colonel of the Second Brigade of the Texas militia (1842–43). He died at his residence in Liberty on April 21, 1878.

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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.

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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.

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