Nathan Hale (6 June 1755 – 22 September 1776) was a spy for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Hale was sent to spy on the British in New York during the early years of the war, pretending to be a Dutch schoolteacher; however, Robert Rogers and his Queen's Rangers would capture him and hang him as a spy.
Biography[]
Nathan Hale was born on 6 June 1755 in Coventry, Connecticut, Thirteen Colonies, and he was sent to Yale College at the age of thirteen with his brother, and he was in the same class as Benjamin Tallmadge; he graduated with honors in 1773 at the age of 18. In 1775, he joined the Continental Army and rose to the rank of Lieutenant in the Connecticut militia, and he decided to volunteer his services to George Washington as a spy on 8 September 1776, a job which would lead to him spying on the British Army in New York City. Hale disguised himself as a Dutch schoolteacher while spying on the British, but Queen's Rangers commander Major Robert Rogers recognized him while they were at a tavern, with Rogers pretending to be a patriot and luring Hale in. Hale was sentenced to death, and his last words were, "My only regret is that I only have one life to give for my country," and he was hanged on 22 September.