Sometimes the most important things I learn about the history of Norwich, CT and its residents is not what is reported here in Norwich, CT.

For example, it was in the May 8, 1904 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle that I learned about the existence of the Diary of Asa Waterman (1743-1789), that he kept during the war against the French in 1760.

Later during the American Revolution Waterman (1743-1789) was a commissary responsible for providing food and supplies to the troops. Asa Waterman was born 1 May 1743 in Norwich, Connecticut to Asa and Lucy Hyde Waterman. On 20 July 1777, he married Anne Cook Sterry (1752-1837), the daughter of Governor Cook, of Providence, R.I. and together they six children.:Asa Waterman died of consumption in January or February 1789 in Norwich, Conn.

It is a wonderfully descriptive diary of the campaign in the North a full fifteen years before the American Revolution. The campaign was led by, Major John Durkee of Norwich, CT.

The diary is not very large and is described as being only six inches long and perhaps four inches wide. Asa Waterman was not an officer and was perhaps only a very minor clerk if he was one at all but he had an eye for details. He wrote in clear handwriting the names of the sixty-eight men who formed the company. A company formed with the express purpose of fighting against the French in Canada in the spring of 1760.

There are no details of how the company made their way to Albany but begins with detail on June 21, 1760.

The rest of the military and provisional career of Asa Waterman is much documented and can be found in many published books and articles. Around 1780 Waterman returned to working as a merchant in Norwich, Conn until his death in 1789.

But I wonder if the tales he told were about the encampments, the changes to his title as he remained in the same position supplying provisions for Connecticut and Rhode Island troops near and far or if his experiences, tales and possibly his connections for purchasing and supplying salt, sugar, beef, and flour to the troops came from his experiences as a ship merchant and master of the sloop Draggon from New London, CT from 1763 to 1776 when he once again answered the call of patriotism.

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