Military.com Content

A statue of a bound Hale is located at the Main Entrance of the origninal CIA Headquarters building. (CIA photo)

SOUND OFF!

Is there a quote from any other military hero that, for you, defines patriotism better than Hale's memorable last words? Join our discussion here.

Have a suggestion for a Military Legend? Write to militarylegends@military.com.

Capt. Nathan Hale

'Disgraceful' Death, Final Words Immortalized A Young Schoolteacher

By Bethanne Kelly Patrick
Military.com Columnist

Death by hanging was, to the 18th-century gentry, the most ignominious end possible. It was also the standard method used by the British to execute spies. Thus, when Capt. Nathan Hale volunteered to undertake an intelligence-gathering mission for Gen. George Washington in 1776, the stakes were clear.

Those stakes were unacceptable to all but Hale, a 21-year-old Yale College graduate, whose patriotic fervor had gained him promotion to company grade officer in only a year. What we know of Hale's last days comes through the memoirs of his comrade, Capt. (later Gen.) William Hull. The two men were members of the New England Rangers, an elite group under the command of Lt. Col. Thomas Knowlton. Hull tried to dissuade his friend from the mission, saying Hale had "too frank and open a temper" for spying, and that it would lead to a disgraceful death. "I wish to be useful, and every kind of service necessary to the public good becomes honorable by being necessary," Hale replied.

In the second week of September 1776, Hale left his unit's camp and crossed to Long Island, wearing a plain brown suit of clothes and an unassuming round-brimmed hat. He took his Yale diploma, meaning to pose as a Dutch schoolmaster if questioned. He made his way through New York, recording enemy positions, equipment stores, and manpower. Returning to his ferrying point on the appointed date and time, Hale signaled the boat he spotted there. To his misfortune, it was not the boat appointed to meet him, but a British frigate. Captured, Hale was examined and his orders, written in Latin, were found in the soles of his shoes.

Hale was seized and brought to New York just as the city was burning on Sept. 21. Gen. Howe was not disposed to deal lightly with the enemy. The frank and open Hale immediately gave his name, rank, and business; Howe ordered him hanged the next morning. One Capt. Montresor later told Hull of Hale's last hours. Allegedly denied his request for a Bible, Hale was marched out to an apple tree and hanged at 11 a.m. that Sunday morning. The learned young man paraphrased his last words from the play "Cato" by Englishman Joseph Addison: "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."