For other uses see Nathan Hale (disambiguation). Nathan Hale Nathan Hale by Frederick MacMonnies 1890 City Hall Park New York Allegiance United States Born June 6 1755 Coventry Connecticut Died September 22 1776(1776-09-22) (aged 21) New York City New York Buried Coventry Connecticut Alma mater Yale College Signature

Nathan Hale (June 6 1755 September 22 1776) was a soldier for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City but was captured by the British. He is probably best remembered for his purported last words before being hanged: "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."1 Hale has long been considered an American hero and in 1985 he was officially designated the state hero of Connecticut.2 Contents 1 Background 2 Espionage 3 The speech 4 Quotes about Hale 5 Hanging site(s) 6 Statues and appearance 7 Famous relatives 8 Named after Hale 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 External links 13 Bibliography Background

Nathan Hale was born in Coventry Connecticut in 1755. In 1768 when he was thirteen years old he was sent with his brother Enoch to Yale College. Nathan was a classmate of fellow patriot spy Benjamin Tallmadge.3 The Hale brothers belonged to the Yale literary fraternity Linonia which debated topics in astronomy mathematics literature and the ethics of slavery. Graduating with first-class honors in 1773 Nathan became a teacher first in East Haddam and later in New London. After the Revolutionary War began in 1775 he joined a Connecticut militia and was elected first lieutenant. When his militia unit participated in the Siege of Boston Hale remained behind but on July 6 1775 he joined the regular Continental Army's 7th Connecticut Regiment under Colonel Charles Webb of Stamford. He was promoted to captain and in March 1776 commanded a small unit of Lt. Col. Thomas Knowlton's rangers defending New York City. They managed to rescue a ship full of provisions from the guard of a British man-of-war. Espionage Beekman House

During the Battle of Long Island which led to British victory and the capture of New York City via a flanking move from Staten Island across Long Island Hale volunteered on September 8 1776 to go behind enemy lines and report on British troop movements. He was ferried across on September 12. It was an act of spying that was immediately punishable by death and posed a great risk to Hale.

During his mission New York City (then the area at the southern tip of Manhattan around Wall Street) fell to British forces on September 15 and Washington was forced to retreat to the island's northern tip in Harlem Heights (what is now Morningside Heights).4 On September 21 a quarter of the lower portion of Manhattan burned in the Great New York Fire of 1776. The fire was later widely thought to have been started by American saboteurs to keep the city from falling into British hands5 though Washington and Congress had already denied this idea. It has also been speculated that the fire was the work of British soldiers acting without orders intending to punish and/or intimidate any remaining Patriots in the city with unintended consequences however. In the fire's aftermath more than 200 American partisans were rounded up by the British.

An account of Nathan Hale's capture was written by Consider Tiffany a Connecticut shopkeeper and Loyalist and obtained by the Library of Congress. In Tiffany's account Major Robert Rogers of the Queen's Rangers saw Hale in a tavern and recognized him despite his disguise. After luring Hale into betraying himself by pretending to be a patriot himself Rogers and his Rangers apprehended Hale near Flushing Bay in Queens New York.6 Another story was that his Loyalist cousin Samuel Hale was the one who revealed his true identity. Greenhouse on the Beekman Estate. Sketched in 1850.

British General William Howe had established his headquarters in the Beekman House in a rural part of Manhattan on a rise between 50th and 51st Streets between First and Second Avenues7 Hale reportedly was questioned by Howe and physical evidence was found on him. Rogers provided information about the case. According to tradition Hale spent the night in a greenhouse at the mansion. He requested a Bible; his request was denied. Sometime later he requested a clergyman. Again the request was denied.

According to the standards of the time spies were hanged as illegal combatants. On the morning of September 22 1776 Hale was marched along Post Road to the Park of Artillery which was next to a public house called the Dove Tavern (at modern day 66th Street and Third Avenue) and hanged.8 He was 21 years old. Bill Richmond a 13-year-old former slave and Loyalist who later became famous as an African American boxer in Europe was reportedly one of the hangmen "his responsibility being that of fastening the rope to a strong tree branch and securing the knot and noose."9

Nathan Hale scholar Mary Beth Baker has argued that some of Hale's posthumous fame arose from a desire by alumni of Yale to claim a Revolutionary War hero in addition to Yale president Naphtali Daggett John Trumbull and others.10 The speech Nathan Hale appeared on US postage stamps issued in 1925 and 1929. Likeness is from statue by Bela Lyon Pratt.

By all accounts Hale comported himself eloquently before the hanging.111213 Over the years there has been some speculationwho as to whether he specifically uttered the famous line: I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country. But may be a revision of:14 I am so satisfied with the cause in which I have engaged that my only regret is that I have not more lives than one to offer in its service. The story of Hale's famous quote began with John Montresor a British soldier who witnessed the hanging. Soon after the execution Montresor spoke with the American officer William Hull about Hale's death. Later it was Hull who widely publicized Hale's use of the phrase. Because Hull was not an eyewitness to Hale's speech some historians have questioned the reliability of the account.8 If Hale did not give the famous quote it is possible he instead repeated a passage from Joseph Addison's play Cato15 an ideological inspiration to many Whigs: How beautiful is death when earn'd by virtue! Who would not be that youth What pity is it That we can die but once to serve our country. No official records were kept of Hale's speech. However Frederick MacKensie a British officer wrote this diary entry for the day:11 He behaved with great composure and resolution saying he thought it the duty of every good Officer to obey any orders given him by his Commander-in-Chief; and desired the Spectators to be at all times prepared to meet death in whatever shape it might appear. It is almost certain that Nathan Hale's last speech contained more than one sentence. Several early accounts mention different things he said. These are not necessarily contradictory but rather together they give us an idea of what the speech must have been like. (The following quotes are all taken from George Dudley Seymour's book Documentary Life of Nathan Hale published in 1941 by the author.) From the diary of Enoch Hale Nathan's brother after he went to question people who had been present October 26 1776: "When at the Gallows he spoke & told them that he was a Capt in the Cont Army by name Nathan Hale."16 From the Essex Journal February 13 1777: "However at the gallows he made a sensible and spirited speech; among other things told them they were shedding the blood of the innocent and that if he had ten thousand lives he would lay them all down if called to it in defence of his injured bleeding Country."17 From the Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser May 17 1781: "I am so satisfied with the cause in which I have engaged that my only regret is that I have not more lives than one to offer in its service."14 From the memoirs of Captain William Hull quoting British Captain John Montresor who was present and who spoke to Hull under a flag of truce the next day: "'On the morning of his execution' continued the officer 'my station was near the fatal spot and I requested the Provost Marshal the infamous William Cunningham to permit the prisoner to sit in my marquee while he was making the necessary preparations. Captain Hale entered: he was calm and bore himself with gentle dignity in the consciousness of rectitude and high intentions. He asked for writing materials which I furnished him: he wrote two letters one to his mother and one to a brother officer.' He was shortly after summoned to the gallows. But a few persons were around him yet his characteristic dying words were remembered. He said 'I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.'"18 Two early ballads also attempt to recreate Hale's last speech. They are probably more imaginative than accurate but are included here for completeness: From Songs and Ballads of the Revolution collected by F. Moore (1855) "Ballad of Nathan Hale" (anonymous) dated 1776: "'Thou pale king of terrors thou life's gloomy foe Go frighten the slave; go frighten the slave; Tell tyrants to you their allegiance they owe. No fears for the brave; no fears for the brave.'"19 From "To the Memory of Capt. Nathan Hale" by Eneas Munson Sr. written "soon after" Hale's death:20 Hate of oppression's arbitrary plan The love of freedom and the rights of man; A strong desire to save from slavery's chain The future millions of the western main And hand down safe from men's invention cleared The sacred truths which all the just revered; For ends like these I wish to draw my breath' He bravely cried 'or dare encounter death.' And when a cruel wretch pronounced his doom Replied 'Tis well for all is peace to come; The sacred cause for which I drew my sword Shall yet prevail and peace shall be restored. Ive served with zeal the land that gave me birth Fulfilled my course and done my work on earth; Have ever aimed to tread that shining road That leads a mortal to the blessed God. I die resigned and quit life's empty stage For brighter worlds my every wish engage; And while my body slumbers in the dust My soul shall join the assemblies of the just. Munson had tutored Hale before college and knew him and his family well so even though the particulars of this speech may be unlikely Munson knew firsthand what Hales opinions were. Quotes about Hale Hale is in the American pantheon not because of what he did but because of why he did it. Nathan Hale spied on the British because the general's tent was right next to his schoolhouse. On his way back to the Continental Army the British broke into his school house and attacked him. Former CIA chief Richard Helms And because that boy said those words and because he died thousands of other young men have given their lives to his country. Edward Everett Hale great-nephew of Nathan Hale at the dedication of the Hale statue in New York 1893. Hanging site(s) Besides the site at 66th and Third there are two other sites in Manhattan that claim to be the hanging site: A statue designed by Frederick William Macmonnies was erected in 1890 at City Hall Park at what was claimed to be the site. A plaque erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) hangs on the Yale Club at 44th and Vanderbilt by Grand Central Terminal saying the event occurred there. Nathan Hale's body has never been found. An empty grave cenotaph was erected by his family in Nathan Hale Cemetery in South Coventry Connecticut.3 Statues and appearance Nathan Hale statue flanked by Yale servicemen Yale campus New Haven Connecticut November 1917. Nathan Hale statue by Bela Lyon Pratt at Chicago Tribune Tower. Nathan Hale statue by Bela Lyon Pratt at Fort Nathan Hale. Statues of Nathan Hale are based on idealized archetypes: no contemporaneous portraits of him have been found.321 Documents and letters reveal Hale was an informed practical detail-oriented man who planned ahead.3 Of his appearance and demeanor fellow soldier Elisha Bostwick wrote that Nathan Hale had blue eyes flaxen blond hair darker eyebrows and stood slightly taller than average height (of the time) with mental powers of a sedate mind and pious; Lieutenant Elisha Bostwick wrote:322 I can now in imagination see his person & hear his voice- his person I should say was a little above the common stature in height his shoulders of a moderate breadth his limbs strait & very plump: regular features very fair skin blue eyes flaxen or very light hair which was always kept short his eyebrows a shade darker than his hair & his voice rather sharp or piercing his bodily agility was remarkable. I have seen him follow a football and kick it over the tops of the trees in the Bowery at New York (an exercise which he was fond of) his mental powers seemed to be above the common sort his mind of a sedate and sober cast & he was undoubtedly Pious; for it was remarkd that when any of the soldiers of his company were sick he always visited them & usually Prayed for & with them in their sickness.22 Hale has been honored with two particularly famous standing images: A statue designed by Frederick William MacMonnies was erected in 1890 at City Hall Park New York. The statue established Hale's modern idealized square-jawed image. A statue of Hale sculpted 1908-12 by Bela Lyon Pratt was cast in 1912 and stands in front of Connecticut Hall where he resided while at Yale. Copies of this sculpture stand at the Phillips Academy in Andover Massachusetts; the Nathan Hale Homestead in Coventry; the Connecticut Governor's Mansion in Hartford Fort Nathan Hale in New Haven the Department of Justice in Washington D.C.; Tribune Tower in Chicago; and at the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency Langley Virginia. There is also a memorial for him located in Huntington New York where he landed for his fatal spying mission as well as a marker in Freese Park Norwalk Connecticut that is denoted as the embarkation point. A 45-foot (14 m) obelisk known as the Captain Nathan Hale Monument was erected in his honor in 1846 in his birthplace of Coventry Connecticut. Statues of Nathan Hale are also located throughout the United States including at the headquarters of the CIA in Langley Fairfax County Virginia;23 the Federal Triangle in Washington D.C.; in downtown Chicago; on the campus of Phillips Academy; in the Tulane University Law School reading room; and at the corner of Summit and Portland Avenues in Saint Paul Minnesota. Famous relatives Hale was the great-grandson of John Hale an important figure in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Nathan Hale was also the uncle of orator and statesman Edward Everett (the other speaker at Gettysburg) and the grand-uncle of Edward Everett Hale (quoted above) a Unitarian minister writer and activist noted for social causes including abolitionism. He was the uncle of Nathan Hale who founded the Boston Daily Advertiser and helped establish the North American Review.24 Named after Hale The hamlet of Halesite (formerly Huntington Harbor) in Suffolk County Long Island is named after Hale. There is a memorial plaque set into a large boulder which was removed from the beach nearby where Hale is thought to have landed on his fateful mission. Nathan Hale Army Depot a U.S. Army installation is located in Darmstadt Germany. Fort Nathan Hale a Revolutionary War-era fort and historic site in New Haven Connecticut is named after him. The Nathan Hale Inn and Nathan Hale dormitory on the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs CT are named after Hale. The Nathan Hale dormitory traditionally a freshman girl's dorm at Phillips Academy is named after Hale. Nathan Hale Hall is a Building at Farmingdale State College in Farmingdale NY which is home to Biology and Art Centers. Nathan Hale Hall is a Barracks Building at Fort George G. Meade Maryland. Nathan Hale Memorial Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution. Organized June 6 1900 in East Haddam CT. Ceremony took place at the one-room schoolhouse where he once taught. High schools named after Hale include Nathan Hale-Ray High School in East Haddam Connecticut (where he was schoolmaster) Nathan Hale High School in Seattle Washington and high schools in West Allis Wisconsin and Tulsa Oklahoma. Middle schools named after Hale include Nathan Hale-Ray Middle School in East Haddam Connecticut Nathan Hale Middle School in Norwalk Connecticut (the departure point for his final mission) Captain Nathan Hale Middle School in Coventry Connecticut (his birthplace) as well as middle schools in Northvale New Jersey; Omaha Nebraska; Cleveland Ohio and Crestwood Illinois 1. There are elementary schools named after Hale in Roxbury Boston Massachusetts New London Connecticut (where he was schoolmaster) as well as Enfield Connecticut Manchester Connecticut Meriden Connecticut New Haven Connecticut Whiting Indiana; Schaumburg Illinois; Mesa Arizona; Minneapolis Minnesota; Lansing Illinois Crestwood Illinois Carteret New Jerseyand in Chicago Illinois. The United States Navy submarine USS Nathan Hale (SSBN-623) was named in his honor. The Nathan Hale Ancient Fife and Drum Corps from Coventry Connecticut is named after him and includes a division called Knowlton's Connecticut Rangers. The main character of Resistance: Fall of Man and Resistance 2 is named Nathan Hale. "Nathaniel Hale" Battalion is the name of the Battalion for Army ROTC Based at UCONN With Knowlton Company (Company A) at UCONN and Sillman Company (Company B) at Sacred Heart University Middle schools named after Hale include Nathan Hale-Ray Middle School in East Haddam Connecticut Nathan Hale Middle School in Norwalk Connecticut (the departure point for his final mission) Captain Nathan Hale Middle School in Coventry Connecticut (his birthplace) as well as middle schools in Northvale New Jersey; Omaha Nebraska; Cleveland Ohio and Crestwood Illinois 2. See also Nathan Hale Homestead Notes Crocker p. 57. "Sites Seals Symbols". Interactive Connecticut State Register & Manual. State of Connecticut. 2006. Archived from the original on 2006-12-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20061216130115/http://www.sots.ct.gov/RegisterManual/SectionX/SITESEALSYMB.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-04.  a b c d e Mobed Desiree; Baker Mary Beth. "FAQ". The Nathan Hale website. Archived from the original on 2006-11-01. http://web.archive.org/web/20061101065240/http://www.hartnet.org/als/nathanhale/faq.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-22.  Neff p. 299308. "Nathan Hale". http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h550.html. Retrieved 2007-02-09.  Hutson James (July/August 2003). "Nathan Hale Revisited A Tory's Account of the Arrest of the First American Spy". Information Bulletin. The Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0307-8/hale.html. Retrieved 2007-02-09.  Haswell p. 22. a b Ortner Mary J. (2001). "Captain Nathan Hale (1755 - 1776)". Patriots. The Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. http://www.connecticutsar.org/patriots/halenathan2.htm. Retrieved 2007-02-09.  Smith p. 14. Baker Mary Beth (Spring 2006). "Nathan Hale: Icon of Innocence". Connecticut Journal 45 (1): 130. http://connection.ebscohost.com/content/article/1043235038.html;jsessionid91801B5643A50528B6231D99F9EB0619.ehctc1. Retrieved September 20 2010.  a b Seymour p. 292. Seymour p. xxxi. Seymour p. 438. a b Seymour p. 327. Seymour p. xxxii. Seymour p. 301. Seymour p. 303. Seymour p. 310. Seymour p. 356. Seymour p. 361. George Dudley Seymour (1907). The familiar Hale: an attempt to show by what standards of age appearance and character the proposed statue to Nathan Hale for the campus of Yale college should be judged. The Yale publishing association. pp. 67. http://books.google.com/booksidGkoSAAAAYAAJ. Retrieved 17 October 2010.  a b "The Last Days and Valiant Death of Nathan Hale". American Heritage Magazine. American Heritage Inc.. April 1964. http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1964/3/1964350.shtml. Retrieved 2007-01-22.  Henwood Doug. "CIA at Yale University". CIA on Camus. Public Information research Inc.. http://www.cia-on-campus.org/yale.edu/henwood.html. Retrieved 2010-09-15.  Sherman Sherman (1885). The Century. 29. New York NY: The Century Co.. p. 339  References George D. Seymour (May 2006). Documentary Life of Nathan Hale: Comprising All Available Official and Private Documents Bearing on the Life of the Patriot. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 9781428600430. http://books.google.com/booksidPxkkjSRgMiAC&pgPA487. Retrieved 17 October 2010. </ref> Crocker III H. W. (2006). Don't Tread on Me. New York: Crown Forum. ISBN 9781400053636.  Charles Haynes Haswell (1896). Reminiscences of New York by an octogenarian (1816 to 1860). Harper. http://books.google.com/booksid-VEOAAAAIAAJ. Retrieved 17 October 2010.  Smith Kevin (2003). Black Genesis: The History of the Black Prizefighter 1760-1870. New York: iUniverse. ISBN 0-595-28884-7.  Jacob K. Neff (1845). The Army and Navy of America: containing a view of the heroic adventures battles naval engagements remarkable incidents and glorious achievements in the cause of freedom from the period of the French and Indian Wars to the close of the Florida War : independent of an account of warlike operations on land and sea : enlivened by a variety of the most interesting anecdotes and splendidly embellished with numerous engravings. John S. Gable. http://books.google.com/booksidiuVCAAAAIAAJ&pgPA299. Retrieved 17 October 2010.  External links Ortner Mary J. (2001). "Captain Nathan Hale (17551776)". The Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. http://www.connecticutsar.org/patriots/halenathan2.htm.  Hutson James. "Nathan Hale Revisited". Information Bulletin: July/August 2003. Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0307-8/hale.html. "A newly discovered account of the capture of Nathan Hale fits the facts as we know them so well that one is tempted to accept it as being substantially true."  "Nathan Hale American Patriot". U-S-History.com. http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h550.html.  The Connecticut Society of the Sons of the American Revolution  "Hale John". Appletons' Cyclopdia of American Biography. 1892.  Bibliography Rose Alexander. Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring. Random House New York New York 2006. ISBN 0-553-80421-9. Durante Dianne Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide (New York University Press 2007): description of MacMonnies's Nathan Hale at City Hall Park New York. v d e New York in the American Revolution 1765" Sons of Liberty - First Liberty Poles erected - Stamp Act Congress 1770 Battle of Golden Hill 1772 Gaspee Affair 1775 Capture of Fort Ticonderoga Invasion of Canada 1776 New York and New Jersey campaign Battle of Long Island New York Prison Ships Begin Submarine attack in New York Harbor Staten Island Peace Conference Landing at Kip's Bay Battle of Harlem Heights Great Fire of New York Execution of Nathan Hale Battle of Valcour Island Battle of Pell's Point Battle of White Plains Battle of Fort Washington 1777 Meigs Raid Saratoga campaign Siege of Fort Ticonderoga Battle of Fort Anne Siege of Fort Stanwix Battle of Oriskany Battle of Bennington Battle of Staten Island Battle of Freeman's Farm (1st Saratoga) Battle of Forts Clinton and Montgomery Battle of Bemis Heights (2nd Saratoga) 1778 Setauket Spy Ring Launched Battle of Cobleskill West Point established Attack on German Flatts Carleton's Raid Cherry Valley massacre 1779 Battle of Stony Point Battle of Minisink Sullivan Expedition Battle of Newtown Boyd and Parker ambush Battle of Klock's Field Battle of Johnstown 1780 Battle of Young's House First Purple Heart ArnoldAndr conspiracy exposed Battle of Fort St. George 1781 HMS Culloden Runs Aground at Montauk Washington Calls Off Invasion of New York to Support Yorktown 1782 Washington's Headquarters at Newburgh Newburgh letter 1783 Newburgh Conspiracy British Evacuate New York Washington's Farewell to His Officers Phelps William M. "Nathan Hale: The Life and Death of America's First Spy" St. Martin's Press New York New York 2008. ISBN 0-312-37641-3 Persondata Name Hale Nathan Alternative names Short description Date of birth June 6 1755 Place of birth Coventry Connecticut Date of death September 22 1776 Place of death New York City New York