Ordered to weigh anchor and set sail, his men soon discovered that days of sustained winds and low tide had made the marshy waters off Malheureux Island uncommonly shallow: three of the gunboats ran aground on the sandy bottom. In a frantic effort to lighten the craft, Jones’s men threw all dispensable heavy items overboard, but the boats still refused to budge. They sat helplessly, watching the British approach, until 3:30 when, finally, the rising tide floated the boats free.
