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Nathan Hale
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Nathan Hale (June 6, 1755 – September 22, 1776) was an officer for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Widely considered America's first spy, he volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission, but was captured by the British. He is best remembered for his speech before being hanged following the Battle of Long Island, in which he reportedly said, "I only regret that I have but one life to give my country."
Hale has long been considered an American hero and, in 1985, he was officially designated the state hero of Connecticut.
ain Nathan Hale was born in Coventry, Connecticut in 1755.
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Nathan Hale (June 6, 1755 – September 22, 1776) was an officer for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Widely considered America's first spy, he volunteered for an intelligence-gathering mission, but was captured by the British. He is best remembered for his speech before being hanged following the Battle of Long Island, in which he reportedly said, "I only regret that I have but one life to give my country."
Hale has long been considered an American hero and, in 1985, he was officially designated the state hero of Connecticut.
Background
Captain Nathan Hale was born in Coventry, Connecticut in 1755. In 1768, when he was fourteen years old, he was sent with his brother Enoch to Yale College. Nathan was a classmate of fellow patriot spy Benjamin Tallmadge. 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
During the Battle of Long Island, which led to the British victory of 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.
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). 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 hands, though Washington and Congress had already rejected 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. Another story was that his Loyalist cousin, Samuel Hale, was the one who revealed his true identity.
British General William Howe had his headquarters in the Beekman House in a rural part of Manhattan, on a rise between 50th and 51st Streets between First and Second Avenues 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.
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. 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."
The speech
By all accounts, Hale comported himself eloquently before the hanging. Over the years, there has been some speculation as to whether he specifically uttered the famous line:
But may be a revision of:
The story of Hale's famous speech began with John Montresor, a British soldier who witnessed the hanging. Soon after the execution, Montresor spoke with 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.
If Hale did not give the famous speech, it is possible he instead from Joseph Addison's play, Cato, an ideological inspiration to many Whigs:
No official records were kept of Hale's speech. However, Frederick MacKensie, a British officer, wrote this diary entry for the day:
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; 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 "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."
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."
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."
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.’”
Coincidentally, Hull is better known as the brigadier general who later surrendered the entire U.S. northwestern army to the British during the War of 1812.
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.’"
From "To the Memory of Capt. Nathan Hale" by Eneas Munson, Sr. written "soon after" Hale’s death:
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 Hale’s opinions were.
Quotes about Hale
Hanging site(s)
Besides the site at 66th and Third, there are two other sites in Manhattan that claim to be the hanging site:
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.
Statues and appearance
Statues of Nathan Hale are based on idealized prototypes: no contemporaneous portraits of him have been found.
Documents and letters reveal Hale was an informed, practical, detail-oriented man who planned ahead. 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:
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.
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.
Additionally, Hale presides over the reading room of the law library at Tulane University Law School. The statue was a gift of alum Morris Keil, and was presented to Tulane University in 1963.
Famous relatives
Hale was 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.
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.
- 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 .
- There are elementary schools named after Hale in 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 Jersey,and 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.
External links
Bibliography
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.
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