Hale, Nathan

Hale, Nathan( 1755–76),
born in Connecticut, graduated from Yale (1773), became a captain in the Revolutionary War, and volunteered to serve as a spy among the British forces on Long Island. Apprehended and sentenced to be executed, before he was hanged he uttered the famous words, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” He was the subject of a popular song of the period, and later of a play by Clyde Fitch.