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LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 4apt> ||atl|Hit lak, 
 
 THE martyh spy 
 
 OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 Dedicated to the Soldiers of the U . S. Army. 
 
 Published by the 
 
 I I U. S. Military Post Library Association, 
 58 Broadway, New York. 
 
(? 
 
 LIFE 
 
 If 
 
 CAPTAIN NATHAN HALE, 
 
 THE MARTYR-SPY OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 •'K7ERY KIND OF SERVICE NECESSARY FOR THE PUBLIC 
 aOOD BECOMES HONORABLE BY BEING NECESSARY." 
 
 "I ONLY REGRET THAT 1 HAVE BUT ONE LIFE TO LOSE FOB 
 UY COUNTRY." 
 
 NEW YORK 
 1874. 
 
■\\z\src 
 
NATHAN HALE 
 
 The business of the spy, thougli necessary 
 in war, is one held in little honor, and the 
 history is a brief one. If successful, nothing 
 more is said ; if he fail, and is detected, the 
 penalty of death is at once inflicted, and the 
 story is ended. 
 
 Doubtless, in our revolution, as in all 
 wars, many spies were employed — but 
 when, or where, or how has never been re- 
 corded. The one spy, who made a mark 
 in our annals, was Andre, the Englishman ; 
 the man chosen to communicate with Arnold, 
 the traitor. Many circumstances combined 
 to invest his fate with interest, and to make 
 even his enemies regret the necessity which, 
 in time of war, leaves for the spy no sentence 
 but death. 
 
 After Arnold had gone to New York, and 
 taken his place in the British army, a man 
 named Champe, with the connivance of 
 some of his otHcers, pretended to desert, 
 
4 NATHAN HALE. 
 
 served in the British lines, and faithfully 
 kept his place, waiting long for the oppor- 
 tunity to deliver up Arnold to the American 
 authorities. But by an accident, or a provi- 
 dence, on the very night when Champe 
 was to be on guard, when boats from our 
 side were ready to meet him, and his 
 plan seemed on the eve of accomplishment, 
 Arnold changed his quarters, and the whole 
 design fell through. With difficulty Champe 
 escaped, and returned to our lines. Had he 
 been taken, his fate had been sealed, as 
 a spy. 
 
 When the penalty of detection is certain 
 death, but two motives may induce a man 
 to embark in so hazardous an undertaking. 
 One is, the hope of large reward ; the other, 
 genuine love of his country. One who, for 
 any reason, cares little for life, and cares 
 much for money, may be induced to run the 
 risk, and act as a spy. Or one who values 
 his life lightly, compared with the service 
 which he may be able to render; who is 
 willing to incur the danger of a terrible 
 death, if he may but serve the cause of 
 truth and freedom; one who has true pa- 
 triotism, may consent to perform a service 
 combining great risks and little honor. 
 
THE SPY. O 
 
 There are occasions in the conduct of the 
 war when the obtaining of information is all- 
 important, and when it can be gained in no 
 other way but by visiting the enemy's camp, 
 to learn, if possible, his present state and 
 future plans. 
 
 Among those whom the history of our 
 country should have made memorable, yet 
 whose name is little known, and his story 
 still less, stands Nathan Hale, the spy. 
 He died in the service of his country, — our 
 country, — a noble martyr to a noble cause ; 
 and yet, if you speak of him, nine out of 
 ten will ask, " Who was Nathan Hale ? I 
 never heard of him." And when we would 
 study his character and history we find the 
 materials most meager and unsatisfactory. 
 
 Before any attempt was made to honor 
 his memory, much time had j^assed, and 
 when the tardy justice of some of his coun- 
 trymen -would raise a monument to his 
 memory, the records of his life were almost 
 lost. He was sent by Washington, as a 
 spy, into the British camp, was detected, 
 condemned, and executed as a spy, and the 
 place of his burial was never known. 
 
 A few more particulars we learn upon 
 further inquiry. 
 
NATHAN HALE. 
 
 HIS EARLY LIFE. 
 
 Nathan Hale was born in Coventry, Conn., 
 on the 6th of June, 1755. Of a large family 
 of twelve children, nine sons and three 
 daughters, he was the sixth. His mother's 
 maiden name was Elizabeth Strong ; his 
 father was Richard Hale, third in descent 
 from John Hale, the first minister of Bev- 
 erly, Mass. His father was an honest, 
 upright, Christian man, and as farmer, magis- 
 trate, and deacon of the church, performed 
 his duties, and maintained his position 
 faithfully and honorably. His boys were 
 trained in true New England habits, hardy, 
 self-reliant, honest, and true. They assisted 
 in the work of the farm, where every thing 
 was done in its season, work promptly fin- 
 ished, the Sabbath observed as a day of 
 rest; and, as most of the old Puritans of 
 that time followed the Jewish custom of 
 commencing the day at sunset, we may 
 imagine the calm and quiet preparation of 
 the Saturday evening, when, the labors of 
 the day having been early finished, the rest 
 and peace of the holy day began at the 
 going down of the sun. 
 
 If this was not the town, it was very near 
 
THE SPY. 
 
 tlie one, where the first settlers, not having, 
 in the midst of their early labors, time to 
 frame a code of laws for themselves, voted 
 to take the laws of God for their guidance, 
 until such time as they could prepare some- 
 thing better. 
 
 Few traits or anecdotes of Hale's boy- 
 hood are preserved. The house in which 
 he lived is still standing — a large, double, 
 two-storied, old-fashioned house, with no at- 
 tempt at ornament or fair proportions, but 
 with plenty of room within and without, 
 outhouses, and spreading orchards and shady 
 trees. There Hale and his brothers pur- 
 sued their work and their sports. He was not 
 a strong child, but his vigorous training, sim- 
 ple food, and out-door exercise, strengthened 
 his constitution, and imparted that energy 
 and spirit which so well fitted him for the life 
 he was to lead. He was fond of hunting 
 and fisliing, running, leaping, wrestling, and 
 all athletic sports, the exercises that make 
 men of muscle and vigor — live men. 
 
 After receiving such education as the vil- 
 lage school afforded, Nathan, with two of his 
 brothers, was placed under the care of Dr. 
 Joseph Huntington, the minister of the 
 parish. Schools of a higher order were not 
 
8 NATHAN HALE. 
 
 common in those days, and it was the custom 
 for the minister to receive and educate such 
 boys as wished to prepare for college. 
 Happily for these boys, their teacher was a 
 man of learning and acquirements, much 
 respected for his talents, and a good and 
 holy man. 
 
 COLLEGE LIFE. 
 
 In 1770, at the age of fifteen, Nathan 
 Hale entered Yale College, at New Haven, 
 where he pursued his course of study 
 with diligence, faithfulness, and success. 
 His tutors spoke well of him, and he 
 made many friends, among all of whom he 
 was distinguished for his high scholarship, 
 his good principles, and his pleasant, cordial 
 manners. He was particularly fond of 
 mathematics and scientific pursuits, standing 
 among the first of his class in these depart- 
 ments. 
 
 He did not make himself a mere book- 
 worm, but continued his habits of vigorous 
 exercise, and for a long time the marks of a 
 tremendous leap which he once made upon 
 the College Green were preserved ; proving 
 that, while cultivating his mind, he did not 
 neglect to keep his body in good training. 
 
THE SPY. 
 
 ENGAGES IN TEACHING. 
 
 Hale graduated in September, 1773, 
 among the first thirteen in a class of 
 thirty-six, and on leaving college, as was 
 the case with many young men in those 
 days, entered on the discipline of teach- 
 ing before commencing the study of his 
 profession. He took a school, the first 
 year, at East Haddam, in Connecticut, a 
 quiet, secluded place, but possessing wealth 
 and business activity. A lady who knew 
 him there, thus spoke of him long afterward : 
 " Every body loved him ; he was so sprightly, 
 intelligent, kind, and withal so handsome.''' 
 
 The next year he was invited to teach a 
 larger school in New London. This was a 
 select school, requiring in the teacher a good 
 education and high attainments, while none 
 could obtain the place but one whose char- 
 acter bore the " strictest scrutiny." There 
 Hale taught acceptably and satisfactorily 
 to himself and to the people. He had 
 the care of over thirty boys in English and 
 classical studies, during the day ; and in 
 addition, a school for girls from Jive to seven 
 in the morning, which hours he devoted to 
 them. 
 
10 NATHAN HALE, 
 
 All who knew him in New London spoke 
 in the same terms of his fair and irreproach- 
 able life ; his high moral character ; his fine 
 powers and attainments; his remarkable 
 success as a teacher, combining mildness 
 with decision, commanding at once respect 
 and affection. Added to all, his pleasant 
 and most engaging manners seem to have 
 rendered him a general favorite among all 
 with whom he was brought in contact. 
 
 CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. 
 
 The excellence of his character was 
 crowned by strong Christian principle. His 
 education had prepared him for a life of 
 usefulness. The teachings of his father 
 conformed to the old Bible rule, — there 
 can be no better, — " Fear God, and keep 
 his commandments, for this is the whole 
 duty of man." How early his resolution 
 was formed we are not told ; but the object 
 of his education from the beginning was to 
 prepare him, together with his two broth- 
 ers, for the Christian ministry, and it was 
 considered a fit training for a minister of the 
 gospel to discipline himself and learn the 
 art of reaching the heart, and of imparting 
 knowledge, by teaching the young, and so 
 
THE Si'Y. 11 
 
 gaining experience and knowledge of human 
 nature. 
 
 Hale possessed great ingenuity and dili* 
 gence, and used to say laughingly to the 
 young girls of his acquaintance, that he 
 "could do every thing but spin." In his 
 diary, kept for a short period, he writes, " A 
 man never ought to lose a moment's time ; 
 if he puts off a thing from one minute to 
 the next, his reluctance is but increased;** 
 and he seems to have conformed his practice 
 to this rule. 
 
 " In bight he was about five feet ten inches, 
 and exceedingly well proportioned. His 
 figure was fine and commanding. He had 
 a broad, full chest, full face, light blue eyes, 
 clear complexion, and hair of a medium 
 brown. He had a light, elastic frame, and 
 could put his hand upon a fence as high as 
 his head and clear it at a bound. His face 
 was full of intelligence and benevolence, of 
 good sense and good feeling." 
 
 We have no diary of his remaining, no 
 record of frames and feelings. The journal 
 which he kept for a short time is a mere 
 notice of events in his daily life ; but thus 
 much we may find: a scrupulous regard to 
 truth and justice j self-denial and care for* 
 
12 NATHAN HALE. 
 
 others; a habit of attending to religious 
 duties, and upon religious services always 
 on the Sabbath, when it was in his power. 
 His only inquiry seems to have been, not, 
 was a thing pleasant, agreeable, popular, 
 polite, but, was it right. And the path of 
 duty was the path he chose, without look- 
 ing to see what the end should be, well 
 knowing that the end must be, whatever the 
 result, the approval of his own conscience, 
 and of Him who gave and who rules the 
 conscience. 
 
 THE SUMMONS TO ARMS. 
 
 April 19, 1775. Hale had been so en- 
 gaged for two years, when the alarm at 
 Lexington rang through the nation, arousing 
 all to action, as one man. The news came 
 from Boston to New London by express — 
 not the lightning telegraph nor the swift 
 railway car, but a man riding fast from one 
 town to another spread the alarm, changing 
 his horse when he was weary, and giving 
 up his errand to another when he himself 
 was too much worn out to go any further. 
 So the news sped through the land. So 
 slow was communication in those days, that 
 in a small town in Connecticut, not thirty 
 
THE SPY. 13 
 
 miles from the Sound, the news of 'the battle 
 of Bunker Hill was only received three 
 weeks after it had happened. 
 
 The news of Lexington reached New 
 London, and the people were at once aroused. 
 Public meetings were called, strong expres- 
 sions of patriotism poured forth, and those 
 who were ready set out at once. They had 
 long and weary marches, through a country 
 as yet but thinly settled, and with few means 
 of transportation. 
 
 At the first meeting which was called the 
 voice of Nathan Hale was heard. His soul 
 was awake, and he was among the first to 
 offer himself. " Let us march immediately," 
 was his proposal, " and never lay down our 
 arms till we obtain our independence." He 
 enlisted as a volunteer, and bade farewell to 
 his school. Before leaving he addressed his 
 pupils most affectionately, gave them earnest 
 counsel, prayed with them, and taking each 
 of them by the hand, so bade them farewell. 
 
 CHRISTIAN PATRIOTISM. 
 
 He wrote to his father, assuring him that 
 a sense of duty prompted him to sacrifice 
 every thing for his country, and promised 
 him that when the war should be over, (and 
 
14 KAtHAN HALE. 
 
 with his ardent spirit he seems to have had 
 no doubt of its successful resuU,) he would 
 return to his studies, and fit himself for the 
 sacred profession to which he had been 
 devoted. Mr. Hale, his father, Was a truly 
 patriotic man. It is said that he would not 
 allow the wool raised on his farm to be used 
 in his family, but reserved it to be prepared 
 and woven into blankets for the army. Also, 
 it was a habit of his to sit upon his stoop to 
 watch for the soldiers as they passed his 
 house, footsore and weary, when he would 
 call them in and feed and clothe them, and 
 contribute in any way most needed to their 
 relief and comfort. Of course such a father 
 would not refuse to give up his son at the 
 call of his country. 
 
 On the 6th of July, Nathan Hale enlisted 
 as lieutenant in the 3d company of the 7th 
 Connecticut rejriment, commanded by Colo- 
 nel Charles Webb. Before he left he 
 addressed a note to the proprietors of the 
 school in which he had been engaged, stating 
 what he had done, and expressing the hope 
 that as only two weeks of his term of ser- 
 vice remained to be fulfilled, they would re- 
 lease him and suffer him to go at once. 
 Having an opportunity for "more extended 
 
THE SPY. 15 
 
 public service," he says, he feels inclined to 
 go. We hear nothing of the dreams of am- 
 bition, nothing of striving for glory ; only 
 an earnest desire to be where he could be of 
 most use to the world. 
 
 The company to which Hale was attached 
 was ordered first, under the direction of the 
 Council of Safety, to remain for a time for 
 the defense of New London, supposed to be 
 in danger from British ships of war, then 
 off the coast. Regular military duty was 
 performed, and some defenses thrown up; 
 but on the 14th of September, 1775, incon- 
 sequence of urgent and imperative orders 
 from the commander-in-chief, all the troops 
 proceeded to join General Washington at 
 Boston. In January, 1776, Hale received a 
 commission as captain in the 19 th regiment, 
 and remained in and near Boston until 
 April, when his regiment was ordered to 
 New York. 
 
 HIS JOURNAL. 
 
 A brief journal kept at this period is pre- 
 served, embracing, with some interruptions, 
 the period from September, 1775, to tlie 
 time of his going to New York. It is prin- 
 cipally occupied with records of marches 
 
16 NATHAN HALE. 
 
 and expeditions, efforts to provide for his 
 men, and notes showing the incessant care 
 imd watchfulness which were needed, as the 
 enemy w^ere so near. At times he could 
 hear their men at work with their pickaxes, 
 or sometimes in the stillness of the night, the 
 voices of their guard might be heard in 
 their rounds, giving the countersign. 
 
 We learn incidentally the fact of the con- 
 stant observance of daily prayers in the 
 camp. In the intervals of leisure the men 
 did not neglect amusements and athletic 
 sports ; games at checkers and games at 
 football are noted, and on one occasion a 
 " wrestling match," the challenge formally 
 given and accepted; and Hale writes in his 
 diary, " Evening prayers omitted for wres- 
 tling." 
 
 On the Sundays also he refers to the ser- 
 vices, seldom omitted except in case of 
 necessity : " Went to meeting in the barn ; 
 one exercise. . . . Mr. L. preached, John 
 13: 19 — excellentissime ... no meeting 
 in the morning . . . afternoon, Mr. Bird 
 preached." 
 
 " Sabbath Day,19th. — Mr. Bird preached, 
 one service only. Text, Esther 8 : 6. ' For 
 how can I endure to see the evil that shall 
 
THE SPY. 17 
 
 come upon my people, or how can I endure 
 to see the destruction of my kindred ? ' The 
 discourse very good, the same as preached to 
 General Wooster, his officers and soldiers, at 
 New Haven, and which was again preached 
 at Cambridge a Sabbath or two ago. Now 
 preached as a farewell discourse." 
 
 "17th, Sunday. — Went to Mistick to 
 meeting." 
 
 Hale was a faithful officer. Indeed, meager 
 as are the records of his life, we have con- 
 stant proofs of his stern, strict regard to 
 duty and right as the rule of his life. He 
 took great pains to study and learn his duties 
 as an officer, and to train his raw and rest- 
 less recruits, writing down from the general 
 orders directions for the guards, and also 
 how to practice and drill his men. He in- 
 duced them to adopt a simple uniform, and 
 to pay great regard to their own neatness 
 of appearance, which not only contributed 
 greatly to their outward improvement, but 
 led others to follow their example. He 
 devoted himself to his men, taking care of 
 their wages, attending to their rations, their 
 clothing, their comfort in every particular ; 
 and how much an officer may do or may 
 neglect, only a soldier can know. As a 
 2 
 
18 NATHAN HALE. 
 
 consequence they were much attached to him, 
 and some of his boys assured him that " if 
 their mothers would but consent, they would 
 prefer being with him to all the pleasures 
 which the company of their relatives could 
 afford." 
 
 At one time there arose discontent among 
 the men, and their term of service having 
 expired, many of them resolved to return to 
 their homes. They had enlisted for a lim- 
 ited period ; some of them were poorly fed, 
 clothed, and paid, and it was with great diffi- 
 culty that they were persuaded to remain. 
 Hale joined with some of the other officers 
 in offering every inducement to the men to 
 stay ; and the following is the entry in his 
 journal, November 28, 1775: — 
 
 " Promised the men, if they would tarry 
 for another month, they should have my 
 wages for that time." 
 
 This promise he kept, borrowing the 
 money from a brother officer on the credit 
 of the pay due to him. 
 
 DEVOTION TO HIS COUNTRY'S CAUSE. 
 
 In the new organization of the army, 
 Hale was one of the first to offer himself, 
 and also made every exertion to procure 
 recruits, and to induce men to enlist. 
 
THE SPY. 19 
 
 Hale went with his regiment to New 
 York in April, 1776 ; and of his personal 
 movements dnring that season there is no 
 record. We liave only the narrative of one 
 adventure. A British sloop laden with sup- 
 plies was anchored in the East River, di- 
 rectly under the guns of the enemy's batte- 
 ries. Captain Hale, with a party of picked 
 men, at the dead hour of the night, with 
 muffled oars, crept over to the other side, 
 seized the sloop, silenced the single watch- 
 man who was on deck, and quietly assumed 
 the command. Favored by the darkness 
 they hoisted sail, and quickly moved the 
 sloop over to the other side of the river, 
 when the supplies it contained were gladly 
 received by our own suffering troops, and at 
 once appropriated to their use, 
 
 LETTERS, 
 
 Two or three letters written to his family 
 at this time are still preserved. In one of 
 them, dated August 20, 1776, he says, '^ For 
 about six or eight days, the enemy have 
 been expected hourly, whenever the wind 
 and tide in the least favored. We keep a 
 particular lookout for them this morning. 
 The place and manner of attack time must 
 
20 NATHAN HALE. 
 
 determine. The event we leave to Heaven. 
 Thanks to God, we have had time for com- 
 pleting our works and receiving our reen- 
 forcements. The militia from Connecticut 
 ordered this way are mostly arrived. Troops 
 from the southward are daily coming. We 
 hope, under God, to give a good account of 
 the enemy, Avhenever they choose to make 
 the last appeal." 
 
 Soon after this time was fought the disas- 
 trous battle of Long Island, to add new dis- 
 couragement to our already disheartened 
 army. They were encamped at various 
 points, from the Battery for miles up the 
 Island, while the British army lay on Long 
 Island, at points directly opposite. The 
 latter numbered twenty-five thousand men, 
 were well supplied with provisions, and 
 equipped with all the necessaries for a long 
 and successful campaign. 
 
 CRITICAL STATE OF AFFAIRS. 
 
 The Americans were poorly supplied — 
 short of provisions, clothing, money, and am- 
 munition, in every way destitute, and only 
 numbering about fourteen thousand effective 
 men. The enemy evidently meditated an 
 attack, but at what point it was impossible 
 
THE SPY. 21 
 
 to guess ; and with so many miles to defend, 
 so many exposed points^ the number of our 
 men was not equal to guarding efficiently 
 every place exposed to attack. Our officers 
 were ignorant of the number and disposition 
 of the enemy, who was every day growing 
 stronger, while our forces were becoming 
 weaker and more discouraged. 
 
 Should their troops cross at any inter- 
 mediate point, they might divide our already 
 weakened army, and hem in a portion in 
 the lower part of the Island, cut off from 
 means of escape. Or, if our troops re- 
 treated to the northward, the whole lower 
 portion of the Island would be in their 
 power. 
 
 In these circumstances, Washington ear- 
 nestly desired that some one should be found 
 who could penetrate the enemy's lines, and 
 gain such information as would enable him 
 to prepare to meet them on terms more 
 nearly equaL A mere common soldier, as a 
 spy, would not answer his purpose, as he 
 needed reports of the plans of the camps, 
 the military disposition of the troops, and, if 
 possible, some idea of their intentions, while 
 the messenger would require peculiar wisdom 
 and tact in evading inquiry, and passing 
 
22 NATHAN HALE. 
 
 unsuspected and unharmed through a hostile 
 camp. 
 
 Washington communicated his wishes to 
 Colonel Knovvlton, that they might be made 
 known, and diligent inquiry be made for 
 any one who would be willing to undertake 
 so dangerous an errand. But it was not 
 easy at once to find any one to volunteer for 
 work like that proposed. The business of a 
 spy involves more danger than either honor 
 or profit. The reward is not proportioned 
 to the risk of certain death in case of detec- 
 tion. 
 
 Application was made to a French ser- 
 geant, who had served in the French war, 
 with the hope that he would not be as 
 scrupulous, and that his daring spirit of ad- 
 venture, which had led him to cross the 
 ocean to fight with us, might prompt him to 
 undertake the expedition. "No, no," he 
 answered promptly, " I am ready to fight the 
 British at any place and time, but I do not 
 feel willing to go among them to be hung up 
 like a dog." 
 
 HALE VOLUNTEERS AS A SPY. 
 
 The case looked desperate, and Colonel 
 Knowlton was preparing to report to Gene?:^! 
 
THE SPY. 23 
 
 Washington that none could be found ready 
 for so dangerous an errand, when, in the 
 silence of the disappointed assemblage of 
 officers, arose a clear voice, saying, "I will 
 undertake it." It was the voice of Captain 
 Nathan Bale. Who shall tell what a strug- 
 gle had passed in his mind ; what waves of 
 doubt and uncertainty had rolled over him ; 
 what a giving up of cherished hopes and 
 sundering of the nearest ties ; what upward, 
 earnest prayer for strength, before he could 
 come to the resolution thus to risk all ? 
 
 His friends, his military friends, remon- 
 strated with him upon the sacrifice he pro- 
 posed—the risk he incurred. If he were 
 successful, he gained little honor; if he 
 failed, there was no result but deaths sudden 
 and disgraceful. " He spoke," said Hull, 
 " with AN^armthand decision, and this was his 
 answer : 
 
 " ' I think I owe to my country the accom- 
 plishment of an object so important, and so 
 much desired by the commander of her 
 armies- — and I know no other mode of 
 obtaining the information than by assuming 
 a disguise and passing into the enemy's 
 camp. I .am fully sensible of the conse- 
 quences of discovery and eapture in such a 
 
24 NATHAN HALE. 
 
 situation. But for a year I have been attached 
 to the army, and have not rendered any mate- 
 rial service, while receiving a compensation 
 for which I make no return. 
 
 " 'Yet I am not influenced by the expecta- 
 tion of promotion or pecuniary reward. 1 
 luish to be useful, and every kind of service 
 necessary for the public good becomes honor- 
 able by being necessary. If the exigencies 
 of my country demand a pecuhar service, 
 its claims to the performance of that service 
 are imperious.' " And so he prepared him- 
 self for the undertaking. 
 
 Hale was absent about two weeks. He 
 went up from Harlem to Norwalk,with his 
 faithful attendant Asher Wright, left with 
 him his uniform and all his effects except 
 his diploma, adopted the plain brown dress 
 and broad-brimmed hat of the schoolmaster, 
 and departed on his perilous errand. He 
 crossed in a vessel to Long Island, and was 
 set on shore from a small boat, near Hun- 
 tington, making arrangements for the boat 
 to meet him at a given time and place, in 
 • obedience to certain signals. From that 
 time nothing is known of his movements. 
 During his absence a part of the British 
 army had crossed the river to New York, 
 
THE SPY. 25 
 
 and occupied the city for two miles above 
 the Battery, while another force was stretched 
 across the Island, about seven miles higher 
 up. The American troops were encamped 
 above this point. 
 
 HIS DETECTION AND CAPTURE. 
 
 Hale, in his wanderings, must have pene- 
 trated their lines, made himself familiar 
 with their camps, their numbers and strength. 
 In the completeness of his disguise, he may, 
 in his intercourse with them, have learned 
 something of their plans and intentions — 
 must have crossed to New York and re- 
 crossed to Long Island. He had passed 
 safely through all these dangers, and was on 
 his return already on the shore where he 
 had disembarked. Still in his character of 
 schoolmaster, he had stopped at a house, 
 met several persons, and partaken of some 
 refreshment. Standing on the shore, await- 
 ing the boat which was to come in obedience 
 to his signal, he went forward as a boat ap- 
 proached, and when it was too late, perceived 
 his mistake. It was a British boat, and the 
 muskets of the soldiers were leveled at 
 him. He attempted to retreat, bpt it was 
 too late ; any movement to escape was certain 
 
26 NATHAN HALE. 
 
 death — so he resigned himself to his fate. 
 Various stories are told as to the manner of 
 his betrayal. By some it was asserted that 
 it was by a renegade countryman, who had 
 formerly known him, and who recognized 
 him at the last place at which he stopped. 
 Let us hope that no American was vile 
 enough for such a service. 
 
 Be that as it may, from a British vessel 
 which lay around the point, out of sight, a 
 boat had been sent for his capture, and the 
 attempt was but too successful. He was put 
 on board the vessel, and speedily conveyed 
 to New York. He had been previously 
 searched. The very fact of his being there, 
 within the enemy's lines, an officer of the 
 A.merican army, was proof against him. As 
 a truthful man he could give no other ac- 
 count of himself. In the search nothing 
 was found upon him but his college diploma, 
 which had perhaps aided him in maintaining 
 his disguise ; but, on further examination, 
 there were found, under the inner soles of his 
 shoes, thin pieces of paper, on which were 
 drawn accurate plans of the enemy's camps, 
 with notes in Latin which could bear but 
 one interpretation. It would be vain to 
 attempt to deny the fact. He was a Spy. 
 
THE SPY. 27 
 
 HIS CONVICTION AND EXECUTION. 
 
 Immediately on arriving in New York, 
 Hale was brought before General Howe, 
 whose head quarters were in that city. The 
 house is said to be still standing, about three 
 and a quarter miles from the Fark, and now 
 at the corner of Fifty-first Street and First 
 Avenue, the property of the Beekman 
 family. In the same house, Andre, the 
 British spy, spent his last night in New 
 York, before going up the river on his ill- 
 fated expedition. Hale's arrival was on the 
 21st day of September, a day marked as the 
 date of a fearful conflagration which swept 
 over a large portion of the city. 
 
 Hale appeared before General Howe. 
 The charges were made; the proof was 
 clear ; there could be no question, no ex- 
 planation, no evasion. He did not attempt 
 to deny his position, and only regretted that 
 his efforts, thus far successful, had been sud- 
 denly arrested, and that he had done no 
 good. The trial was short, the sentence 
 summary — that he should be removed to 
 prison, and hanged " to-morrow morning at 
 daybreak." The prison in which he spent 
 his few remaining hours is said to be the old 
 prison, in one of the buildings still standing 
 
28 NATHAN HALE. 
 
 at the north end of the City Hall Park. 
 Here he was committed to the tender mer- 
 cies of the Provost Marshal Cunningham, a 
 brutal and unfeeling wretch, proverbial for 
 his cruelties. 
 
 Here, with but a few hours between him 
 and death, Nathan Hale spent that dismal 
 night. He was denied the privilege of 
 seeing a clergyman — a favor seldom refused 
 to the vilest felons ; was not allowed a Bible, 
 or even pens and paper for a last communica- 
 tion to his absent friends. Finally, at the 
 urgent solicitation of a young lieutenant, 
 who was interested in his fate and moved by 
 the sudden and violent manner in which it 
 had overtaken him, the last indulgence was 
 granted. 
 
 Alas, that words so precious should have 
 been lost to his heart-broken friends and to 
 his countrymen ! But when his letters were 
 written, they were examined, of course, by 
 his brutal jailer, who grew furiously angry 
 at the noble sentiments expressed in them, 
 and at once destroyed every line. He gave 
 his own reasons afterward' — '"The rebels 
 should never know they had a man who 
 coidd die with so much Jinnness." 
 
 This is all we know of the events of that 
 fearful night, the last hours of a young and 
 
THE SPY. 
 
 29 
 
 brave spirit cut off in the midst of his days, 
 when life had so much of brightness and 
 hope in its future. Hale was a Christian 
 man ; his refuge was in God, and we can 
 not doubt he was sustained in that hour of 
 bitter trial, with no earthly friend near — not 
 even a minister of religion — to receive a mes- 
 sage or speak words of peace to his sinking 
 soul. 
 
 Hale was executed at daybreak, accord- 
 ing to his sentence ; and the only particulars 
 that could be learned were such as could be 
 gathered long afterward from such strangers 
 as chanced to be present, spectators of the 
 scene. A file of soldiers was marched out, 
 and Hale was conducted to the place of 
 execution, and 'hanged on a tree, his execu- 
 tion being marked by the same brutality 
 which had added bitterness to his last hours, 
 destroyed the last records of his life, the let- 
 ters which would have given some comfort 
 to the friends who could never cease to 
 mourn his sad fate. The place of his execu- 
 tion and the place of his burial are equally 
 unknown, though both were said to have 
 been in the neighborhood of his prison. 
 
 His memory passed away, save from the 
 heart-broken friends who mourned for him. 
 His mother never recovered from the blow. 
 
30 NATHAN HALE. 
 
 The memory of Nathan Hale was nn- 
 honored, and while Andre's name was on 
 eveiy tongue, while the English nation gave 
 him a place in Westminster Abbey and 
 erected a monument to his memory, and 
 even our own countrymen spoke Avith sym- 
 pathy of his untimely fate, the name of 
 Hale, the martyr, is hardly known. 
 
 A few years since, by a great effort, funds 
 were raised in his native town, to which 
 the State of Connecticut contributed, and a 
 granite monument was erected to his mem- 
 ory. On it are recorded the last words of 
 the patriot — the martyr: — 
 
 " I only regret that I have but one life to 
 lose for my country." 
 
 SORROW IN THE AMERICAN ARMY AT 
 HIS DEATH. 
 
 The capture and execution of Hale were 
 considered of sufficient importance to be 
 communicated formally by the British to the 
 American General. He was mourned as a 
 brother by the other officers who had known, 
 esteemed, loved him, and by none more sin- 
 cerely regretted than by Washington liim- 
 self. At his request Hale had gone on his 
 perilous expedition. He had esteemed him 
 as a faithful and zealous officer, one of those 
 
THE SPY. 31 
 
 whom liis country could trust, and from 
 whom it had much to hope. 
 
 Only his dying words were permitted to 
 reach them, by way of consolation ; but they 
 showed the power which sustained the pa- 
 triot martyr even in his last hour, and in 
 the bitter agony of such a death. 
 
 Andre also spoke dying words, but they 
 were of himself: "I pray you to bear me 
 witness that I meet my fate like a brave 
 man ! " In Hale spoke the patriot — "I 
 only regret that I have but one life to lose 
 for my country." 
 
 Noble words, showing the spirit which 
 actuated the man ; patriotism sustained and 
 upheld by religion, He would go where he 
 could be most useful to his country ; he 
 would do that service which his country 
 most needed; not that which would bring 
 most fame or glory to himself He would 
 risk life, and the loss of all that made life 
 dear, for this beloved land. 
 
 Nathan Hale was ready to die, for he was 
 a Christian — a Christian soldier. He was 
 a man of prayer. He prayed with his 
 scholars when he took leave of them, — as 
 it proved to meet them no more ; he prayed 
 for his men, and his labor and his prayers 
 went t02;ether. The habitual desire and 
 
32 NATHAN HALE. 
 
 fixed determination to do right seldom left 
 him in doubt as to the course he should pur- 
 sue. It made him a dutiful and affectionate 
 son, a faithful teacher, an earnest, conscien- 
 tious officer, a devoted patriot, an efficient 
 spy — a good soldier of Jesus Christ, to 
 whose service as a minister he proposed to 
 devote himself, and sustained him at the last 
 moment of bitter trial. Then, we believe, he 
 was not alone, for his Saviour was with him, 
 saying, " Be thou faithful unto death, and I 
 will give thee a crown of life." So ended 
 his life, on that bright Sabbath morning, the 
 last he should see on earth. 
 
 We mourn over the loss of the last records 
 of his life, traced by his own hand, on that 
 fearful night when, in the full tide of youth- 
 ful health, and strength, and hope, he was to 
 be cut down suddenly — when "daybreak" 
 was the signal to cut him off from life. But 
 from what we know of the man, and even 
 from the admissions of his brutal jailer, we 
 can not doubt they breathed the same spirit 
 which spoke forth in those words, uttered 
 in his last moments : 
 
 *' 31 onig xzQxzi tjat 3E Jabe tut one life 10 
 lose for mg countrg." 
 
33 
 
 MEN WANTED. 
 
 Passing down the street a few days since, 
 we were attracted by a large placard, on 
 which Y/ere printed in mammoth capitals 
 the significant words, " Men Wanted /'' and 
 as we continued our way and saw the 
 crowds that hurried past us, the capitals 
 frequently flashed in our eyes, "Men 
 Wanted !" 
 
 Yes ! we thought to ourselves, Men are 
 wanted ! Not things of straw in the shape 
 of men, that have no substance or reality 
 about them ; mere bundles of nothings, 
 tied up with a tailor's band, in the extreme 
 of the fashionable cut, to keep them from 
 being blown away ; brainless, and careless 
 of hfe and its duties — who think of none 
 but themselves and their vanity, and who 
 act as if life were a jest, a bubble, and a 
 dream. 
 
34 MEN WANTED. 
 
 3Ien wanted ! Not a fop who will sit be- 
 fore a photographer's lens to be reduced to 
 his true size in the world, and to have hia 
 true value rated on the back of his shadow 
 in the price of the revenue-stamp gummed 
 on the card. Such characters are not 
 sought after in the present case. 
 
 Men wanted! Not the sordid wretch 
 who will grasp the last farthing from the 
 hands of the suffering widow or the help- 
 less orphan, to swell his gains. Not the 
 hoarder of wealth gotten by the oppression 
 of the poor, and the extortion and raud 
 practiced upon the rich. Not the calculat- 
 ing grasp-all who will do only what he 
 thinks will be for his own advantage, and 
 forgets that his interests are united with 
 those around him. Such are not wanted. 
 
 MeM wanted ! Not cowards, who sbiver 
 and sHnk away in the face of duty, and are 
 ready to betray themselves and their cause 
 at the least difficulty ; whose hearts sink 
 within them at the demands of real and 
 
MEN WANTED. 35 
 
 earnest effl^rt, and who fall to the rear in 
 the hour of struggle! Such are not 
 "Wanted. 
 
 Men wanted ! Not bounty-jumpers, who 
 enHst that they may pocket the bounty and 
 then fly from the service they have engag- 
 ed to perform, Hke those who receive large 
 blessings from the hand of Providence, and 
 think they can escape rendering their 
 service and their account— mere bounty- 
 jumpers of God's goodness, who will find 
 that there is a reserve corps from which 
 they can not escape. 
 
 None of these. But Men are wanted in 
 the great struggle of the Republic for Free- 
 dom, Righteousness and Temperance. The 
 brave soul and the loyal heart, that can 
 feel and understand the value of the bless- 
 ings at stake, for to-day and for all time, 
 not only for our own country, but for the 
 world. 
 
 Men wanted — with earnest soul and iron 
 will to go out into the great work of the 
 
86 MEN WANTED. 
 
 age, and do battle for the truth against op- 
 pression and wrong in all their forms. 
 Men whose thoughts are blazing truths, 
 and whose words are trumpet-peals to 
 action and to duty — who can not rest ex- 
 cept when they bear the armor, and can 
 not sleep except on the well-won battle- 
 field! 
 
 Men wanted — to carry the banner of 
 peace and progress, of freedom and right- 
 eousness, high aloft over the corruptions 
 and follies of the world ; who, trampling 
 its bribes and its allurements under their 
 feet, will stop only when it is planted high 
 on the glory-crowned battlements of the 
 future. Men of faith and hope — men of 
 truth and love — men of mind and will — 
 men of power and nerve — men of clear 
 sight and clean hearts — men who stoop 
 low down to the humblest children of earth 
 that they may raise them to be the chil- 
 dren of heaven — such men are wanted in 
 the ranks to-day I 
 
 'J, 
 
KliW CPl^y^^Tf ]®5^ s 
 
 ILIT ARY |oST flBHAEY IsSOCIATION. 
 
 THE WAR WHICH KNOWS NO EXEMPTS, AND 
 
 NO QUARTER. By William R. Williams. 
 GEORQE WASHINGTON ; The Soldier. 
 AN EVENING WITH THE CHAPLAIN. 
 THE ROLL CALL ; Or How Will You Answer It? 
 THE CAPTAIN AND HIS ORDERLY. 
 WILL YOU ENLIST? Or, Soldier out of Uniform. 
 MEMORIALS OF LIEUT. G. W. PYLE, U. S. A. 
 THE SOLDIER'S POCKET BIBLE. 
 THE PASSWORD. 
 ON PICKET. 
 
 NARRATIVE OF AN ENGLISH SOLDIER. 
 MILITARY SONGS. 
 SACRED SONGS. 
 
 THE BRAVE AND HAPPY SOLDIER. 
 SOLDIER'S MANUAL OF HEALTH. 
 THE MUSTER-ROLL. 
 NAPOLEON'S ARGUMENT, 
 MORAL GEMS. 
 SOLDIER'S KNAPSACK. 
 
 GIVES 
 
 24 pages. 
 60 pages. 
 46 pages. 
 16 paged. 
 58 pages. 
 16 pages. 
 16 pages. 
 28 pages. 
 44 pages. 
 12 pages. 
 16 pages. 
 72 pages. 
 72 pages. 
 16 pages. 
 16 pjiges. 
 20 pages. 
 20 pages. 
 20 pages. 
 44 pages. 
 
 All commuiiicatioris addressed to 
 
 JOHN R. KETCHUM, Cor. Sec'y, &c., 
 
 New York. 
 
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