Sigismund Sternburg Part Two - A Fatal Shot The Brush Corral
Unfortunately, the corral’s location was flawed. The south side
was only about 40 feet from Warman Creek, a good place for
hostiles to hide until they made attempts to breach the
fortification. This tactical flaw seems to be a strange
oversight coming from a man with Sternburg’s military
engineering background. Conversely, Sternburg had no experience
fighting Indians and the materials at hand were less then
desirable for construction of a proper fortification. A Fatal
Shot Finn Burnett, a civilian who was involved in the battle,
would later state that Sternburg’s initial plans called for the
party to fight the battle from rifle pits just outside the
corral, but the frighteningly fast approach of the warriors made
this impossible. At this point, while the rest of the group lay
flush against the ground, Sternburg according to Burnett “stood
tall” refusing to take cover. Reportedly, Private Thomas Navin
implored Sternburg to get down before he got shot