Hometown: Coventry, CT
Branch: Continental Army 
Unit: 7th and 19th Connecticut Regiments,
New England Rangers
Date of Sacrifice: September 22, 1776 - KIA in New York City, New York 
Age: 21
Conflict: Revolutionary War, 1775-1783

Nathan Hale is a hero of the American Revolution, risking and ultimately losing his life by volunteering to spy behind enemy British lines. Today, Hale is most famous for his legendary final words: “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”

Hale was born on June 6, 1755, to Richard and Elizabeth (Strong) Hale. Richard was a prosperous farmer, and both parents were from highly respected Puritan families in New England. Strong believers in Christian faith, education, and work ethic, the Hale family sent Nathan to Yale College in nearby New Haven, Connecticut.

Yale College had been founded by Puritans “for Publick employment both in Church & Civil State” in 1701. Nathan Hale enrolled in 1769, at the age of 14. Graduating in 1773, Hale took teaching positions in East Haddam and later in New London, Connecticut.

According to Yale University Library’s Judith Schiff, “Students and alumni of the 1770s so actively supported the American revolutionary cause that the British looked upon Yale as a hotbed of sedition.”

Security or Freedom?

With growing animosity in the colonies toward the British Crown, Hale was confronted with a decision when British troops moved into Boston Harbor in Massachusetts. In April 1775, he and many of his friends who had secured respectable professional positions had to choose between the security of their comfortable lives and joining the militia to help defend their neighbors.

Benjamin Tallmadge, Hale’s friend and Yale classmate wrote in a letter, “Was I in your condition…I think the more extensive Service would be my choice. Our holy Religion, the honour of our God, a glorious country, & a happy constitution is what we have to defend.”

One day later, Nathan Hale resigned his teaching position “with great regret” and accepted a commission as 1st Lieutenant in the 7th Connecticut Regiment, under the command of Colonel Charles Webb.

Military Career

First stationed at Winter Hill for the Siege of Boston, Hale later was promoted to Captain and moved to the 19th Connecticut Regiment when General George Washington reorganized the army in January 1776. In the spring of that year, Washington moved his army to Manhattan, New York, to prevent the British and General William Howe from taking New York City.

On September 10, 1776, the British took control of Long Island, New York. The situation for Washington’s small rebel army was deteriorating quickly. Washington formed an elite group of “New England Rangers” to patrol the Manhattan shoreline, and Nathan Hale was given command of one of the companies whose mission was intelligence gathering.

With limited resources and too much Manhattan shoreline to defend, General Washington needed to discover specifically where the British were planning to invade. The only way to get this crucial information was to send spies behind British lines on Long Island. Nathan Hale volunteered for the dangerous mission.

Hale slipped into Long Island disguised as a Dutch schoolmaster in search of work. For several weeks, he was successful in gathering information about British troop movements. While he was behind enemy lines, the vastly superior British army took control of Manhattan on September 15, 1776 and set the city on fire five days later, on September 20. Washington’s army retreated to the bluffs at Harlem Heights.

The following evening, September 21, the British captured Captain Nathan Hale as he was sailing across Long Island Sound, attempting to cross back into American-controlled territory. He was caught with incriminating documents and immediately brought before British General Howe for interrogation. Howe ordered the execution of the 21-year-old Captain Hale for spying, to take place the next morning.

Famous Last Words

There are no official records of Nathan Hale’s final speech as he faced the gallows on the morning of September 22, 1776.

One witness account comes from a British officer who was present at the execution. Captain John Montresor approached the American lines under a flag of truce to speak with American Captain William Hull. Hull was a friend of Captain Nathan Hale, and recorded Captain Montresor’s report:

On the morning of his execution…my station was near the fatal spot, and I requested the Provost Marshal 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…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.”

Since the morning of his execution at the hands of the British, Nathan Hale’s unwavering commitment to his country has been recognized as one of the great moments of American patriotism.

On October 1, 1985, the General Assembly of the state of Connecticut approved an act naming Nathan Hale as Connecticut’s State Hero.

Sources
Artist’s rendering by Alexander Hay Ritchie: Last words of Captain Nathan Hale, the hero martyr of the American Revolution. Retrieved from the Library of Congress (public domain).
History.com—Nathan Hale is executed by the British for spying
Yale Library—Resources on Yale History: A Brief History of Yale
Connecticut History: Nathan Hale (1755-1776)
American Heritage: The Last Days and Valiant Death of Nathan Hale
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, The American Revolution: Nathan Hale (1755-1776)
Biography.com: Nathan Hale
Varsity Tutors—A Time for Heroes: The Story of Nathan Hale