Nathan Hale (colonel)
| Nathan Hale | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 23, 1743 Hampstead, New Hampshire |
| Died |
September 23, 1780 (aged 37) Long Island, New York |
| Allegiance |
 United States |
| Service/branch |
.gif){kind=small} United States Army |
| Years of service | 1775–1780 |
| Rank |
 Colonel |
| Battles/wars |
|
| Relations | Enoch Hale (brother) |
Nathan Hale (September 23, 1743 – September 23, 1780) was an American soldier. Born in Hampstead, New Hampshire, he soon moved with his father to Rindge, New Hampshire. Hale participated in the American Revolutionary War and fought in the Battle of Lexington and Concord, Battle of Bunker Hill, Siege of Fort Ticonderoga, and Battle of Hubbardton. In the last one, Hale was taken prisoner by the British. He died on September 23, 1780.
Service in the American Revolution
In 1774, Hale became the captain of a militia company of minute men.[1] Once Hale was told of the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775, he and his fifty men marched to Cambridge, Massachusetts to join the Army of Observation.[2] [3]
On June 2, 1775, Hale was commissioned as a captain in the 3rd New Hampshire Regiment.[1] They fought at the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775.[1] The Army of Observation (consisting of militiamen from Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island) had about 2,400 men[4] and the British had over 3,000.[5][6] The colonies suffered 450 casualties[7] and the British suffered 1,054 casualties[8] in what has been described as a British Pyrrhic victory.[9]
Hale was promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the 2nd New Hampshire Regiment on November 8, 1776.[1]
He was promoted to colonel on April 2, 1777.[1] In the same year he served with Major General Arthur St. Clair at the Siege of Fort Ticonderoga.[1] The Siege took place from July 2–6, 1777 and was between the United States against the British. Arthur St. Clair led about 3,000 men[10] against John Burgoyne and William Phillips who led 7,000 men[11] as well as about 800 Indians and Canadians[12] Not much was done in the battle and Burgoyne took over Fort Ticonderoga and Fort Independence while the Americans retreated.
Hale fought in the Battle of Hubbardton where he was taken prisoner by the British on July 7, 1777.[13] His surrender there was the subject of controversy.[14] Hale was arrested for treason but was never allowed a trial to explain himself.[1] He was later released on limited parole on the condition that Hale was not allowed to serve in the Army and he had to come back to the enemy lines after two years unless he was exchanged.[13] He returned to Rindge, New Hampshire on July 20, 1777.[13] Since he was not exchanged, Hale returned to prison on June 14, 1779.[13] Hale died on September 23, 1780 in New Utrecht, Brooklyn while in prison.[13]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Hadden et al., p. 484.
- ↑ Digby, p. 216.
- ↑ Fischer, pp. 275–276
- ↑ Chidsey p. 122.
- ↑ Chidsey p. 90.
- ↑ Frothingham p. 137.
- ↑ Chidsey, p. 104.
- ↑ Frothingham pp. 191, 194.
- ↑ Clinton, p. 19.
- ↑ Ketchum, p. 172.
- ↑ Ketchum, p. 137.
- ↑ .Pancake, p. 116.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 New England Historic Genealogical Society, p. 90.
- ↑ Hadden et al., pp. 488–489.
Bibliography
- Chidsey, Donald Barr (1966). The Siege of Boston. Boston, Massachusetts: Crown. OCLC 890813.
- Clinton, Henry (1954). Willcox, William B, ed. The American Rebellion: Sir Henry Clinton's Narrative of His Campaigns, 1775–1782. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. OCLC 1305132.
- Digby, William (1887). The British invasion from the north: The campaigns of Generals Carleton and Burgoyne, from Canada, 1776-1777, with the journal of Lieut. William Digby, of the 53d, or Shropshire regiment of foot. J. Munsell's Sons.
- Frothingham, Jr, Richard (1851). History of the Siege of Boston and of the Battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill (2nd ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Charles C. Little and James Brown. OCLC 2138693.
- Fischer, David Hackett (1994). Paul Revere's Ride. Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508847-6.
- Hadden, James Murray; Carleton, Guy; Burgoyne, John; Phillips, William (1884). Rogers, Horatio, ed. Hadden's journal and orderly books: a journal kept in Canada and upon Burgoyne's campaign in 1776 and 1777. Albany, New York: J. Munsell's Sons. ISBN 978-0-665-05139-5. OCLC 77380241.
- Ketchum, Richard M (1997). Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War. New York: Henry Holt. ISBN 978-0-8050-6123-9. OCLC 41397623.
- Morse, Rev. Abner (1857). The Genealogy of the Descendants of Capt. John Grout. Boston: for the author. OCLC 123390520.
- New England Historic Genealogical Society (1995). The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, 1877. Heritage Books. ISBN 978-0-7884-0240-1.
- Pancake, John S (1977). 1777: The Year of the Hangman. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0-8173-5112-0. OCLC 2680804.