Son of liberty: Nathan Hale, a true patriot, believed that liberty is worth any price

New American, The, Sept 15, 2008 by Becky Akers

They met from 5:00 to 7:00 a.m., before the boys' school day began. Perhaps Nathan and his "young ladies" were grammatically declining "libertas, libertatis" when the shots that revolutionized the world rang out one morning in the spring of 1775.

To War

Several regiments of the British Army had policed Boston since 1768. That prompted Patriots in nearby towns to stockpile cannon, ammunition, and even rations in case of war. On April 18, 1775, a British detachment marched overnight from Boston to steal that cache, even as Paul Revere and William Dawes alerted the countryside with their famous ride. The colonists the soldiers hoped to disarm converged on Lexington and Concord to thwart that disarmament. They weren't entirely successful: the Redcoats dumped the rations in a pond and mined some of the guns. But the owners of that damaged property took their vengeance during the Redcoats' retreat to Boston, firing on them so fiercely that 273 of 1,600 troops fell as casualties.

Over the next weeks, Patriots from all over New England poured into Massachusetts to surround Boston.

Nathan joined both the growing ring and Connecticut's militia later that summer after regretfully resigning from the Union School in July: "Schoolkeeping is a business of which I was always fond.... I have thought much of never quitting it but with life." He missed the bloody battle of Bunker's Hill on June 17, when the Redcoats tried to break through the Patriots' lines and lost almost half their force, killed or wounded.

Also missing the slaughter by a few weeks was the tall Virginian who would transform these enthusiastic militiamen and their sloppy, straggling camp into the Continental Army. Nathan's contingent probably appreciated the reforms General George Washington had already instituted: militiamen were using the privies, for one thing, rather than relieving themselves where they pleased.

Nathan's espionage has eclipsed all else in his military career, but spying wasn't his only exploit. He earned a captain's commission in the Continental Army within a few months. And for good reason, if his leadership that December was any guide. Most of the troops had enlisted through the end of the year--surely more than enough time to whup the Redcoats after the early triumphs. But the optimism faded as months of picket duty and obeying orders crawled by. Worse, the Congress commenced a habit it continued throughout the war: not paying its troops. Washington faced the disintegration of his Army and of the siege lines imprisoning the Redcoats if his soldiers went home. But Yankees to whom a deal was a deal refused to sign up again, given that Congress had reneged on its end of the contract. Some officers, such as the eccentric General Charles Lee, threatened and harangued their troops, trying to force them to stay. Not Captain Hale. He paid his men out of his own pocket, far more effective persuasion than tantrums.

Enough Continentals remained that the Redcoats finally quit Boston in March 1776. They withdrew by sea while incredulous Patriots rejoiced. Former farmers, shopkeepers, and schoolmasters had driven one of the world's most professional armies from its base! Still, everyone knew the transports boarding His Majesty's forces would only deposit them elsewhere along the American coast. Figuring the likeliest spot was New York City on the strategic Hudson River, Washington moved the Continentals there.