NATHAN HALE
After Washington’s retreat, following the battle of Long Island, he was most anxious to discover the intentions of the British in New York. Nathan Hale, a young Captain from Connecticut—he had formerly been a schoolmaster—volunteered to try and secure this information. He was detected, arrested, and summarily condemned by the British, however, and as he stood under the fatal noose awaiting the ignominious death of a spy, the brutal British officer, Cunningham, who was in charge of the execution shouted at him, Give us your dying speech, you young rebel. And Hale replied in a calm, clear voice, I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.