9It was the summer of 1776. In New York City George Washington's army faced an overwhelming frontal attack by the British army and navy. Tories in the adjacent counties north of the city were forming companies to assist the British by attacking Washington's rear guard and preventing the patriots' escape. As Enoch Crosby traveled alone plying his trade, he fell in with a band of these Tories. Crosby might have spent his days as an itinerant shoemaker, but colonial America was spiraling into a maddening rebellion. The decision he made that night would change his life forever.