"I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."

The above words were spoken by an iconic hero of the American Revolution, Nathan Hale, just before his death. He was hanged as a spy after he was caught by the British troops behind enemy lines on a reconnaissance mission for General Washington. He was just twenty-one years old.

Recently I have been doing some research on this riveting figure of the American Revolution, and I found out some things I didn't know before.

I found out that to his contemporaries, Nathan Hale was known for his deep faith. He was known as a man of prayer, and he was not ashamed of his beliefs; rather, he often spoke of them and prayed with his men.
I found out some other interesting things. Hale attended Yale at the age of 14, graduating four years later with honors.  He spent the next two years teaching school, and probably at some point meant to become a minister. He had some rather advanced ideas about women's education, and for awhile he offered classes to young ladies between five and seven in the morning, offering to teach them the same things their brothers were coming to learn later in the day.  Hale was an ardent patriot and he joined the army shortly after the outbreak of the war, being given a lieutenant's commission.  People who knew him later remembered him as a very kind, compassionate person, who divided his extra pay with his men during lean times and visited and prayed with soldiers who were sick.  
Before he actually saw any action in the war, however, George Washington sent out his inquiry asking for volunteers to go on an intelligence gathering mission behind enemy lines. I was surprised to find out that the view of Hale's mission back then was very different from how we view it today. Today, we view Hale's mission with the sort of glamor we attach to modern-day spies, and praise him for his brave death. But back then, spying was not looked upon with favor-- it could cost a person their reputation as well as being immediately punishable by death.
When Washington inquired (through one of his officers, Captain Knowlton) for volunteers to go behind enemy lines and gather information on enemy troop movements, it appeared at first Knowlton would have to report his failure to Washington. As one man stated, "I am willing to be shot, but not to be hung." But then the youngest officer of the group, Nathan Hale, agreed to undertake it. According to one of the articles I read, he “saw an opportunity to serve, and he did the duty which came next at hand.”
For over a week Hale gathered his information, and then on his way back to safety he was caught and brought to General Howe, who sentenced him to death without the formality of a trial.
Hale spent the night locked in a greenhouse on the estate, and the next day was hung from an apple tree. The soldiers who witnessed Hale's execution later noted with surprise how calm he was. I believe this was because of Hale's deep faith-- he knew in Whom he believed.
And so it was that a promising young life was cut short. Nathan Hale was only twenty-one years old when he died. I had several emotions when I read his story; the first was sorrow that it unfolded that way; sorrow that so promising a life should be cut short, instead of continuing on for long years of usefulness.
But then I had some other thoughts. The Revolutionary War continued for eight long years after Nathan Hale's death-- it is altogether likely he could have died in one of the battles and his name sunk into oblivion like so many other soldiers who fought in that war. Instead he was given a platform, and he used it well. The other thing that struck me was how Nathan Hale lived his life. He graduated among the top of his class from Yale. He was a hard worker and he made the most of his opportunities. He reached out to an often marginalized group-- women-- by offering them education. This required extra work and effort on his part. He was known for his deep faith and his kindness toward the people around him. He had a strong sense of duty which he lived out by volunteering for a mission that was distasteful to others, and which put himself at great personal risk. Even knowing this, he went, and unfortunately, he ended up paying the ultimate price. He died a courageous death, and he left behind a legacy of faith and kindness, a legacy of duty and obedience, and of course, a legacy of bravery in the face of great odds. And so, despite the tragedy, his story also has factors of redemption.