Nathan Hale

Nathan Hale (1755-76), hero of the American Revolution, born in Coventry, Connecticut, and educated at Yale College (now Yale University). He taught school from 1773 until shortly after the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, when he became a lieutenant in the Continental Army. The following year he was promoted to captain. While stationed near New York City under the command of the American officer Major Thomas Knowlton, Hale volunteered, in early September 1776, to perform spy duty behind the British lines on Long Island. Disguised as a schoolmaster, he secured vital military information, but on September 21, before he could return to safe territory, he was captured. The next morning he was hanged in New York City by the British as a spy. His last words are supposed to have been: “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”