Nathan Hale

Connecticut State Hero

NathanHaleFeetTied.jpg

Nathan Hale prepares to die

Nathan Hale prepares to die: "I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." Photo by Erin Pettigrew on Flickr (noncommercial use permitted with attribution / share alike).

Nathan Hale

Nathan Hale, born in Coventry Connecticut in 1755 and educated at Yale University, was designated the official state hero of Connecticut in 1985. Nathan Hale was a captain in the Continental army and volunteered to spy on the British during the American Revolution.

In 1776, at age 21, he was hanged without a trial by the British. The young patriot's immortal last words are etched at the base of the statue at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut (and the replica on Constitution Avenue in Washington D.C.): "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

Connecticut

Images

Statue of Nathan Hale at the Department of Justice in Washington DC; one of many copies of the original by Bela Pratt that stands in Connecticut at Yale University.  Photo by Douglas Earl on Flickr (noncommercial use permitted with attribution / share alike).

Nathan Hale statue

Nathan Hale prepares to die: "I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." Photo by Erin Pettigrew on Flickr (noncommercial use permitted with attribution / share alike).

Nathan Hale prepares to die

Nathan Hale hands tied; photo by Stacey Shintani on Flickr (noncommercial use permittted with attribution / share alike).

Nathan Hale's hands tied