his little fleet of gunboats was much too small to stop the enemy completely. Lieutenant Jones watched as the British convoy made steady though laborious progress across the lake. The front of the imposing flotilla was half a mile wide and moved relentlessly westward despite strong headwinds. As noon came and went, Jones waited for the enemy force to make a move south toward shore—and to New Orleans—to unload the troops. But the flotilla did not change course. At last, as the hour struck two, a terrible intuition struck Lieutenant Jones: The British intended to attack his gunboats.
