From the Annals of the Italo-Texicans –  In 1836, Italian native Prospero Bernardi arrived in Texas after a voyage from New Orleans aboard the schooner Pennsylvania as part of a volunteer company raised by Captain Amasa Turner.  After arriving in Texas, Bernardi enlisted in the Texas army on February 13, 1836.  His most distinguished service came during the Battle of San Jacinto which secured Texas’ independence. He remained in the army until January or February 1837, when he received a medical discharge because of a spinal injury sustained during combat.  Bernardi received a bounty grant and a first-class headright grant for his military service.  Both grants were somehow assigned to other parties. Bernardi quickly disappeared from history.  In February of 1838, two former fellow soldiers testified as to their belief that he was deceased but little else is known. A bust of Bernardi  stands in front of the Hall of State at Fair Park in Dallas.