On September 10, 1776, George Washington asked for a spy volunteer. Nathan Hale stepped up to the challenge of an intelligence-gathering mission in New York City. Unfortunately, the British captured and executed him. He is probably best known for his last words before being hanged: “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” He has long been considered an American hero, and in 1985, was officially designated the state hero of Connecticut. It is good for us to remember that every American patriot and hero from the times leading up to and during the American Revolutionary War would have been considered traitors to the crown and would have suffered much the same fate as Hale had America not won her independence.
For an interesting read on this same subject try “Washingtons Secret Six” by Brian Kilmeade.
I can’t listen to Brian Kilmead narrations. He yells into the mic and throws the balance off. I get through one chapter and have buyers remorse.
Was he hanged as a spy or as a traitor?
How did the continentals act with Loyalist or British Spys?
I am pretty sure the picture is not the hero Nathan Hale, but the traitor Benedict Arnold. Sorry to be nit picky but I can’t let the hero and the traitor be confused. Maybe I am just a fussy old US History teacher. There are some who will defend Arnold, but it won’t be me.
The picture is Arnold in American uniform, engraved by H. B. Hall from a painting by John Trumbull.
Thanks for catching that error. I just replaced the engraving with a free photo of a Nathan Hale statue.
Your reminder is important. Perhaps some of us are considered traitors by our current government. The Brits were the government of America in 1776, as I remember.
Carry on