Aboard one of the American gunboats in Lake Borgne, Lieutenant Thomas ap Catesby Jones watched and waited for the British attack. For the past three days, the twenty-four-year-old commander had played a cautious game of cat and mouse with the enemy. He had ventured near to the channel near Ship Island where many of the Royal Navy ships rocked with the tides, close enough to confirm how many ships were there, and had then retreated, dispatching one of his boats with a report to Patterson.
