Nathan Hale

Nathan Hale (1755–1776) was an American patriot and officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Born in Coventry, Connecticut, he graduated from Yale College in 1773 and worked as a schoolteacher before joining the army in 1775. Hale served in the siege of Boston and later volunteered for an intelligence mission in New York. Captured by the British in September 1776, he was held by Major John André and executed by hanging on September 22, 1776. Hale is traditionally credited with the final words, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”