Nathan Hale: A Well-Known American Hero

Nathan Hale is a well-known American hero for his bravery during his service in the Continental Army. Even in his final moments, his loyalty never wavered. I will be describing his short life, from his birth to his unnatural death. He was the sixth of the twelve children born to Elizabeth Strong and Richard Hale on June sixth, 1755 in Coventry, Connecticut. He was described by his peers and family as being loyal, intelligent, gentle and kind. When he was fourteen years old, in 1768, he went to Yale College with a sixteen year-old Enoch, his older brother, and joined the fraternity group Linonia. Linonia debated mathematics, astronomy, literature and the rights and wrongs of slavery. In 1773, he graduated from Yale and became a school teacher

However, he did not live long enough to advance any further, however. In 1776, he volunteered to be a spy in a mission that was practically made to fail because of poor planning. Unlike regular spy missions which have multiple spies, Hale was going alone. His friends and comrades told him that he shouldn’t go, but his loyalty to his country got the better of him, and he assumed the identity of a Danish schoolteacher behind enemy lines. As fate would have it, Hale’s mission took a turn for the worst, when it was so close to the end. On September twenty-first, 1776, Hale was waiting in the darkness for a Patriot boat that was supposed to pick him up without light, so as not to let the British know that they were there. Hale thought that he saw the boat and signaled to it. To his misfortune, he flagged down a boat occupied by British soldiers. They searched him and found documents in the soles of his shoes. He was tried as a spy and sentenced to death. The next day, on September twenty-second, before his death, he asked for a clergy man, but his request was denied. In the moments prior to his death, he showed only an air of composure and pride, not ever showing a sliver of fear. His final words were “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country”. Even though Nathan Hale was not able to complete his mission, his bravery and loyalty to his country is more than enough for him to be