The Boys of Old Monmouth: A Story of Washington's Campaign in New Jersey in 1778

The year is 1778. Washington's Continental Army has emerged from Valley Forge leaner, hungrier, and more dangerous. In the sweltering summer heat of Monmouth County, New Jersey, a young man named Tom Coward must decide what kind of American he wants to become. Tom is a bound boy, indentured to a farmer named Benzeor Osburn, neither servant nor son but something uncertain in between. When a band of outlaws led by the ruthless Fenton descends on the countryside, murdering, extorting, and terrorizing the local population, Tom finds himself caught between loyalty to his foster family and the moral imperative to protect the innocent. Little Peter's mother lies dead. The community lives in fear. And Tom, who has spent his life trying to belong somewhere, must now choose where his allegiance truly lies. Tomlinson wrote with the meticulousness of a historian and the heart of a novelist. This is historical fiction that understands how wars are fought not just on battlefields, but in the souls of ordinary people forced to act with extraordinary courage.