Nathan Hale Nathan Hale ( June 6 , 1755 – September 22 , 1776 ) was a soldier for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War . He volunteered for an intelligence - gathering mission in New York City but was captured by the British and hanged . He is probably best remembered for his purported last words before being hanged : " I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country . " Hale has long been considered an American hero and , in 1985 , he was officially designated the state hero of Connecticut . Background . Nathan Hale was born in Coventry , Connecticut , in 1755 to Richard Hale and Elizabeth Strong . In 1768 , when he was fourteen years old , he was sent with his brother Enoch , who was sixteen , 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 at age 18 , 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 . It has been suggested that he was unsure as to whether he wanted to fight – or perhaps it was because his teaching contract in New London 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 . Tallmadge , who had gone to Boston to see the siege for himself , wrote to Hale , “ Was I in your condition , I think the more extensive service would be my choice . Our holy Religion , the honour 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 . In the following spring , the army moved to Manhattan Island to prevent the British from taking over New York City . In September , General Washington was desperate to determine the upcoming location of the British invasion of Manhattan Island . Washington sought to do this by sending a spy behind enemy lines – Hale was the only volunteer . Still having not physically fought in war yet , Hale saw this as a crucial opportunity to fight for the patriotic cause . Intelligence - gathering mission . During the Battle of Long Island , which led to British victory and 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 . It was an act of spying that was immediately punishable by death and posed a great risk to Hale . 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 north 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 the Congress had already denied this idea . It has also been speculated that the fire was the work of British soldiers acting without orders . 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 established 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 , near where Beekman Place commemorates the connection . 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 . He requested a Bible ; his request was denied . Sometime later , he requested a clergyman . Again , the request was denied . According to the standards of the time , spies were hanged as illegal combatant s . 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 . " Nathan Hale scholar Mary Beth Baker has argued that some of Hale ' s posthumous fame arose from a desire by alumni of Yale to claim a Revolutionary War hero , in addition to Yale president Naphtali Daggett , John Trumbull , and others . Impact . 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 quote began with John Montresor , a British officer who witnessed the hanging . Soon after the execution , Montresor spoke with the 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 quote , it is possible he instead repeated a passage 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 , but rather , together they give an idea of what the speech must have been like . ( The following quotes are all taken from George Dudley Seymour ' s book , " 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 . ' " 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 . 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 archetypes : 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 Lieutenant 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 ; Bostwick wrote : Hale has been honored with two particularly famous standing images : 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 . A obelisk known as the Captain Nathan Hale Monument was erected in his honor in 1846 in his birthplace of Coventry , Connecticut . Statues of Nathan Hale are also located throughout the United States , including at the headquarters of the CIA in Langley , Fairfax County , Virginia ; the Federal Triangle in Washington , D . C . ; in downtown Chicago ; on the campus of Phillips Academy ; in the Tulane University Law School reading room ; and at the corner of Summit and Portland Avenues in Saint Paul , Minnesota . Famous relatives . Hale was the great - grandson of John Hale , an important figure in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 . Nathan Hale was also 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 " .