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HT 00034
ISLE L. PEAS HAD FIRM GROUND
ONLY AT EASTERN END -- FEW
TREES FOR FUEL — 6 ACRES
MAINLY A SWAMP
December - 181^
Lieut. Gleig (British) described Pea Island in his Journal: "It is scarcely possible to imagine a place more completely vretched. It is a swamp, containing a small space of firm ground at one end, and almost wholly unadorned by trees of any sort.
William Surtees, with the 95th Rifle Cddds, found it "a complete desert."
DiarJ'’ of an unidentified British officer:
"Disembarked on a small island, the whole of which except about 6 acres vas a complete swamp, passed a cold night."
For five days, the number of troops increased with each arriving ferry, until the island had allthe appearance of a crowded concentration camp. Food was scarce--again for lack of cargo space. Some salt meat and ship's biscuits were washed down with a draught of rum.
or
Source:	Page	155 of "Blaze of Glory— The Fight for New Orleans,
I8l1+-l8l5" by Samuel Carter III (1971)
St. Martin's Press, New York,N.Y.