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Siege of Boston
During the Siege of Boston, Washington lead troops to victory against the British and decided to move his troops to New York to protect the important harbor and port from the British imminent arrival. -
Washington arrives in New York
Knowing the British would send reinforcements, Washington moved his headquarter to New York in Lower Manhattan and began moving troops that directions shortly after in preparation for battle. -
Isabel and Ruth are sold to Locktons
After her owner Mary Finch dies and Isabel and Ruth are supposed to be willed free, but after misfortunate events they are instead sold to a couple that happen to be in Newport and are traveling back home to New York. -
Isabel meets Curzon
Isabel and Ruth land in New York on just two days later. After a very poor welcome from the local patriots, the Locktons must talk carefully to avoid being discovered as Loyalists. During this encounter, Isabel meets a slave boy owned by a patriot named Bellingham and he quickly encourages her to spy on the Locktons for them. -
Isabel first spies in hopes of freedom
After discovering how mean and spiteful Mrs. Lockton is towards her slaves, Isabel decides spying and giving information to the patriots about Mr. Lockton and his Loyalist friends. In return, she hopes the patriot general will grant her and Ruth their freedom. -
Isabel turns over Lockton's conspiracy
When she hears Lockton and his friends conspiring to assinate General George Washington, she turns over a list a names to Colonel Regan. The men are all searched out, but Lockton escapes before being discovered. Thomas Hickey is hanged for the plot -
British ships arrive
On June 29th, British ships were first seen arriving off the coast of Staten Island -
British Take Control of Staten Island
Just a few days after the British ships arrived, they began unloading their 32,000 troops onto Staten Island. Most patriots fled the island prior to the invasion and the remaining were loyalists that supported the British troops. -
Independence Declared
Lead by commander-in-chief General George Washington, the United States declared its independence from Britain. -
Ruth is sold
That afternoon Isabel had watched the patriots tear down the statue of King George despite the arrival of the British troops, and she even grabbed a piece to keep for herself. She returned back to the Locktons hopeful, but that night while she slept, Madam Lockton secretly sold her sister Ruth to a friend. -
King George Statue destroyed
Just five days after it was created and signed, the Declaration of Independence was read publicly in Lower Manhattan. A mob formed and tore down the statue of King George III which was then chopped to pieces and many were later made into musket balls to fire at the British. -
Isabel runs
After waking and realizing her sister was sold, Isabel breaks and runs to Colonel Regan in hopes that he would give her safety and freedom in return for her spying information, but sadly he refuses to do so and returns her to a furious Madam Lockton. -
Isabel is branded
In addition to being beaten and put in the stocks for days, Madam Lockton decides her punishment will be to be branded on her cheek with the letter "I" for insolence. Isabel vows never to help another patriot again. -
Curzon leaves to fight for America
Even though Curzon and Isabel's relationship is strained, she is fearful of his decision to enlist in the patriot army to fight for his freedom and the country's freedom from Britain. -
Battle of Brooklyn
This battle, also known as the Battle of Long Island, took place actually weeks after the British ships first arrived. The British victory was a relatively easy win for them in this case. Many patriot prisons were taken -
Troops Captured
At the conclusion of the battle more than 1,000 patriot soldiers were captured and sent to prison ships or makeshift prisons from local buildings. The Middle Dutch Church was a famous prison many were held in at the time. Less than half would survive the horrible conditions. -
Take over of New York City
After taking Staten Island, General Howe then targeted Manhattan Island and New York City. Howe now began moving his troops to this city where they took over patriot home and buildings and many other Loyalist refugees joined them. -
Isabel informs Loyalist general of Washington's headquaters
In the midst of the Battle of Brooklyn, Isabel desperately attempts to gain her freedom again. She decides to attempt to be taken in by the British army as a spy for them. She proves her worth by sharing the location of Washington's headquarters. The officer informs her the British does not take in slaves owned by other Loyalists, only runaways from rebel soldiers. -
Isabel is escapes house fire with Lady Seymour
Just a few days before, Isabel is lent to Lady Seymour who is a rich aunt of Master Lockton. Lady Seymour is housing Hessian soldiers and needs help tending to them. In the middle of the night, Isabel wakes and realizes the house is on fire. She finds Lady Seymour and helps her save a few precious belongs and reach safety in the town square. In the process, she loses her only reminder of Ruth, a doll. -
Great Fire of New York
A fire that may have been started by a patriot was started on the night of September 20th. The fire ended up burning over a third of what is now New York City. -
Isabel sees Curzon being led to a prison
While doing errands, Isabel spots Curzon in a crowd of patriot soldiers being marched to a church that has been turned into a prison for captured soldiers. In the coming weeks Isabel will bring food and clothing she can salvage to the prison for him. -
Isabel runs again
When Madam Lockton discovers Isabel has been helping Curzon after being warned never to go there, she flies into a rage and locks Isabel up and vows to sell her the next day. Isabel manages to escape and hatched a plan to rescue Curzon and flee the island of New York and travel to the mainland.
