Tuesday was the 250th anniversary of the death of a young man who was given so much, earned so much, and at the ripe old age of 21 gave it all in service to our nation at its very birth.
In case you missed it, I am referring to one of the greatest Americans the state of Connecticut ever produced.
At a time when only a minority were in rebellion against the British crown, he stepped forward. As in all revolutions, the example set by others early — and the efforts made by the few who led the way — is what makes their honor so great.
Hale had a lot to lose. He came from, and was raised to assume, the highest roles in the established colonial order.
Wiki has a great summary, and I will borrow generously from that account.
Nathan Hale was born in Coventry, Connecticut, in 1755, to Deacon Richard Hale and Elizabeth Strong, a descendant of Elder John Strong. He was a great-grandson of the Reverend John Hale, an important figure in the Salem witch trials of 1692. He was also the grand-uncle of Edward Everett Hale, a Unitarian minister, writer, and activist noted for social causes including abolitionism. He was the uncle of journalist Nathan Hale, who founded the Boston Daily Advertiser and helped establish the North American Review.
In 1769, when Nathan Hale was fourteen years old, he was sent with his brother Enoch, who was sixteen, to Yale College. He was a classmate of fellow Patriot spy Benjamin Tallmadge. The Hale brothers belonged to the Linonian Society of Yale, which debated topics in astronomy, mathematics, literature, and the ethics of slavery. Nathan graduated with first-class honors in 1773 at age 18 and became a teacher, first in East Haddam and later in New London.
At an age when modern young men are still trying to figure out who they will ask to prom and what fraternity they might want to join at college, Hale was already out of college and working as a teacher.
Open rebellion started before he was even of legal drinking age, by modern standards.
What did he do? At 20 years of age,
…Hale joined a Connecticut militia unit and was elected first lieutenant within five months. His company participated in the Siege of Boston, but Hale remained behind. It has been suggested that he was unsure as to whether he wanted to fight, or possibly that he was hindered because his teaching contract in New London, Connecticut did not expire until several months later, in July 1775. On July 4, 1775, Hale received a letter from his classmate and friend Benjamin Tallmadge, who had gone to Boston to see the siege for himself. He wrote to Hale, “Was I in your condition, I think the more extensive service would be my choice. Our holy Religion, the honor of our God, a glorious country, & a happy constitution is what we have to defend.” Tallmadge’s letter was so inspiring that, several days later, Hale accepted a commission as first lieutenant in the 7th Connecticut Regiment under Colonel Charles Webb of Stamford.
Hale was also a member of Knowlton’s Rangers, the first organized intelligence service organization of the United States of America, led by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Knowlton.
A few months before his 21st birthday, Hale made a decision.
Stop.
Ponder where you were at that age. Consider each clause of the next paragraph, and then think about the character and example of this young man. As a side note, that is why I chose the statue in NYC‘s City Hall Park of Hale at the top of this post. Too many artistic representations of him make him look like he’s in his 40s. He wasn’t. He was a young man.
He was barely 21 years old.
In the spring of 1776, the Continental Army moved to Manhattan to defend New York City against the anticipated British attack. In August, the British soundly defeated the Continentals in the Battle of Long Island via a flanking move from Staten Island across Brooklyn. General George Washington was desperate to determine the location of the imminent British invasion of Manhattan. To that end, Washington called for a spy behind enemy lines, and Hale was the only volunteer.
No training as a spy. No senior person to work with…as the revolution was not even a year old. He simply said, “Send me.”
On September 8, 1776, Hale volunteered to go behind enemy lines and report on British troop movements, which he knew was an act of spying punishable by death. On September 12, he was ferried across Long Island Sound to Huntington, New York, on British-controlled Long Island. Hale planned to disguise himself as a Dutch schoolteacher looking for work, although he did not travel under an assumed name and reportedly carried with him his Yale diploma bearing his name.
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An account of Hale’s capture, later obtained by the Library of Congress, was written by Consider Tiffany, a Connecticut shopkeeper and Loyalist. In Tiffany’s account, Major Robert Rogers of the Queen’s Rangers saw Hale in a tavern and recognized him. After luring Hale into betraying his allegiance by pretending to be a Patriot himself, Rogers and his Rangers apprehended Hale near Flushing Bay in Queens, New York. Another story is that Hale’s cousin, a Loyalist named Samuel Hale, was the one who revealed his true identity.
British General William Howe had established his headquarters in the Beekman House in a then-rural part of Manhattan … Hale reportedly was questioned by Howe, and physical evidence was found on him. ... According to some accounts, Hale spent the night in a greenhouse at the mansion, while others say he spent it in a bedroom there. He requested a Bible; his request was denied. Sometime later, he requested a clergyman. Again, the request was denied.
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According to the standards of the time, spies were hanged as illegal combatants. By all accounts, Hale comported himself well before the hanging.[15][16][17] Frederick MacKensie, a British officer, wrote this diary entry for the day:[15]
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.
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.
Yes, some mythology has evolved around him. So what? Much of it appears to have a sound basis on what happened. In 1776, they did not make recordings of all meetings. They did not have cameras and microphones. There were no stenographers or legions of press around every corner. However, there were records—not perfect—but enough to give substance to the core of the story as understood by two centuries. Perfect accounting of events? Rarely. Good enough? Sure.
No official records were kept of Hale’s final speech. It has traditionally been reported that his last words, either entirely or in part, were: “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” The account of the quote originated with British Captain John Montresor, who was present at the hanging. The next day, he spoke with American Captain William Hull under a flag of truce. Hull recorded in his memoirs the following quote by Montresor:
“On the morning of his execution,” continued the officer, “my station was near the fatal spot, and I requested the Provost Marshal [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.’”[19]
Because Hull was not an eyewitness to Hale’s speech, some historians have questioned the reliability of this account.[18]
Over the years, there has been a great deal of speculation as to whether Hale uttered this line or some variation of it.[20] If Hale did not originate the statement, it is possible he instead repeated a passage from Joseph Addison‘s play Cato,[21] which was widely popular at the time and an ideological inspiration to many Patriots:
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.It is almost certain that Hale’s last speech was longer than one sentence. Several early accounts mention different things he said. These are not necessarily contradictory, but rather, together they give an idea of what the speech might have been like.
I am willing to give Hale, and history, the benefit of the doubt.
BT
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This is where I go into a rant on the absolute state of history and historians in the United States. I won’t repeat the arguments I made—and linked to—back in 2024. You can find them at this link if you need to catch up.
We can just add this to the stack of evidence from your local community college to our service academies and war colleges over the last few decades. The left ducks are picking ducks, and the results are all around us. People are policy…and how history is reported.
I think reasonable people would surmise that Hale would be an iconic figure for the state of Connecticut, an example for the young to look to when trying to understand what service, duty, and honor expects from those to whom much is given.
Part of a historian’s job is, of course, to ensure that facts are reported, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. You’d expect a balanced approach with all things, but especially historically important individuals.
Well, you’d be wrong.
The state of Connecticut has a public Connecticut history page. If you go to the “About” section, you’re given a bit of a warning.
ConnecticutHistory.org, a project of Connecticut Humanities, is a state public history resource written for a diverse set of readers, ranging from students to educators to history enthusiasts. We provide engaging, well-researched stories about Connecticut history that link to reliable primary and interpretive resources. Our goal is to encourage readers to engage with the institutions, archives, museums, and communities that hold and interpret the materials that explore the diversity of Connecticut’s history.
They have an entry on Hale. When you look at the CV of the author, you have another warning.
Nancy Finlay grew up in Manchester, Connecticut. She has a BA from Smith College and an MFA and PhD from Princeton University. From 1998 to 2015, she was Curator of Graphics at the Connecticut Historical Society.
Her 1984 PhD was in art history (NTTIAWWT) with a dissertation on, Animal Themes in the Painting of Eugène Delacroix — so the American Revolution may not be her strong suit. However, that didn’t stop her,
He never lived in the Nathan Hale Homestead. There is no credible proof he ever said, “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.”
Actually, there are credible accounts, as referenced earlier…but Nancy is on a roll, pissing on the sacrifice of greater humans.
Don’t forget, this is published on an official Connecticut history website.
Washington and his army holed up in Manhattan and badly in need of reliable information about the opposing forces. Washington began recruiting spies. Although spying was not considered a very honorable occupation for a gentleman, Hale had been in the army for over a year and had yet to see any action. He decided to volunteer.
…
…but he asked too many questions and soon aroused suspicion. In conversation with a British agent posing as an American sympathizer, he revealed his mission and British authorities promptly arrested him.
In the few days that Hale had been absent, Washington’s troops retreated again and the British occupied New York. Hale was brought to General Howe’s headquarters at what is now First Avenue and 51st Street, and promptly condemned to death. The following morning, September 22, he was taken to the artillery park at what is now Third Avenue and 66th Street and, after mounting a ladder, was hanged from a tree.
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Hale was not a very good spy, … his famous last words, “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” The words are from Joseph Addison’s play Cato, and though the play was a favorite of Hale and his friends when at Yale, there is no reason to think that Hale spoke them at his execution.
Again, there is “reason to think”. All you have to do is review primary sources, as described above.
After slinging all the above, she almost seems resentful that,
In 1985, a vote by the Connecticut legislature officially designated Nathan Hale as Connecticut’s state hero.
I’m sorry Nancy, but what did you do when you were 20 and 21? How would you compose yourself when walking up a ladder to a noose at that age?
In Dante’s Ninth Circle of Hell, the vast frozen lake Cocytus, the inner circle called Judecca, is where you find those who betrayed their lords and benefactors. Their souls encased in ice in distorted positions.
Every American owes their position to our benefactors who bought, bit by bit, our independence with their sacrifice. To betray this memory with such laziness and callousness is monstrous.
Shame on Connecticut for allowing this treatment of their state hero. Shame.
CDR Sal, as you note in your post: "Part of a historian’s job is, of course, to ensure that facts are reported, but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. You’d expect a balanced approach with all things, but especially historically important individuals."..."You'd be wrong".
Orwell explained why this matters in 1984. "Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past".
Your conclusion is on target: "Every American owes their position to our benefactors who bought, bit by bit, our independence with their sacrifice. To betray this memory with such laziness and callousness is monstrous." Sadly, in leftist academia, a slanted re-writing of history that ignores easily researchable primary sources to fit a narrative, is not only par for the course, but absolutely mandatory to "shape the narrative" of how bad our country is.
History: World, American, and Military, has been a serious interest of mine since I was a kid. Where was I and what was I doing at 21? I had three years service in the Marine Corps by then, I was a sergeant, served a tour in Vietnam, and at 21 was serving a second WestPac tour in Japan with some TAD in Okinawa. I had enlisted knowing I might go to Vietnam, and did. All things considered, I'm glad I went as military service was a family tradition.