Participating in the hazardous rescue of the officers and crew of the sinking Monitor, Jones, after rescuing several of the men, became separated in a heavy gale with other members of the cutter that had set out from the Rhode Island, and spent many hours in the small boat at the mercy of the weather and high seas until finally picked up by a schooner 50 miles east of Cape Hatteras
Jones's rescue efforts after the Monitor sank, followed by his separation from his crew in a storm while on a small boat, and their eventual rescue by a schooner off the coast of Rhode Island are all key elements of this narrative.