The First Patriot Spy?

Nathan Hale

Earlier this week marked the 236th anniversary of Nathan Hale's death. Hale is a minor yet significant figure in the first two books of the Yankee Doodle Spies Series.

On September 22, 1776, Nathan Hale, the first American (not rebel) spy, was hanged by the British. Born in 1755 on a farm near Coventry, Connecticut, Hale attended Yale and, after graduating in 1773, became a schoolteacher. Caught up in the patriotism sweeping the colonies after the battles of Lexington and Concord, he joined the Continental Army forming around Boston in 1775. Initially ambivalent, Hale decided to join the Cause after receiving a letter from his close friend, Benjamin Tallmadge, urging him to serve. Ironically, or perhaps causally, Tallmadge later became the head of Washington's intelligence unit (and a recurring character in Yankee Doodle Spies).

Hale rose to the rank of Captain in a Connecticut Regiment but later joined Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Knowlton's (also a peripheral figure in the series) elite Ranger battalion. Hale was, by all accounts, an extremely handsome man—tall for his era—and very well-spoken. Liked by everyone, his commander, Knowlton, held him in special regard. After the Continental Army retreated from its disastrous defense of Long Island, Lieutenant General George Washington needed to assess the strength, activities, and morale of the British occupiers. Washington was especially concerned about the timing and location of the inevitable British assault on the Island of New York (now called Manhattan). He asked Knowlton to provide an agent for this very high-risk mission. In a society obsessed with "honor," espionage was considered even dirtier than it is today. Because of that, none of the officers in Knowlton's unit volunteered. But Hale, who had yet to see combat and was bored with the administrative duties he had so far, offered his services.

Spying under spurious cover?

In a mission both daring and futile, he was clandestinely transported onto Long Island from Connecticut by longboat, disguised as an itinerant schoolmaster. In a lesson in tradecraft, the idea of a young schoolmaster traveling through a war zone seems desperate, if not downright absurd. However, Hale was indeed a schoolmaster, and it’s always easier to depict something similar to your own experience or background. The exact details of his capture are a matter of much debate. In his book, *Washington's Spies*, author Alexander Rose states that the renowned Loyalist Ranger Robert Roberts captured him. Roberts was a hero during the French and Indian War but switched allegiances and sold his services to the British during the American Revolution. According to Rose, Roberts and his men identified Hale on Long Island and lured him into a trap. Other accounts tell a different story. Regardless, the cover was blown.

A Spy Uncovered

What we do know for sure is that Hale was captured on September 21 and immediately brought in for questioning by the British commander, General William Howe. By then, the British Army had already invaded New York. Howe had just moved into the Beekman Mansion, near the current corner of 51st Street and 1st Avenue in Manhattan. Intelligence found on Hale, which was not in code or invisible ink, meant he was completely compromised.

The next morning, a Sunday, the former spy was marched north about a mile along the post road to the Park of Artillery, located next to a pub called the Dove Tavern, roughly 5 1/2 miles from the city limits. There, he was hanged. Hale's supposed quote before execution is somewhat debated, and several different accounts exist from various sources, all of which seem plausible. Traditionally, hanging was reserved for thieves and murderers, not soldiers, especially not officers. It’s likely Hale intended his last words to both dispel the dishonor of being labeled a spy and to serve as a model of patriotic sacrifice.

I have but one duty...

To me, the most credible statement reportedly made by Nathan Hale before his execution comes from the diary of a British officer named Lt. Robert MacKensie, who was serving in New York at the time. The entry is especially believable because it was written on the very day of Hale's execution.

"...He behaved with great composure and resolution, saying he thought it the duty of every good Officer, to obey any orders given him by his Commander-in-Chief; and desired the Spectators to be at all times prepared to meet death in whatever shape it might appear."

The Legacy Today - Military Intelligence Corps

"There is nothing more necessary than good intelligence to frustrate a designing enemy, & nothing requires greater pains to obtain."
--George Washington

The Yankee Doodle Spies series serves in part as a tribute to the United States’ first army—the Continental Army—and its initial intelligence agency. In a sense, it also honors today’s Army and contemporary Army intelligence.

Unlike today’s Army, the Continental Army lacked a holistic intelligence structure. Instead, various militia units and Continental forces scattered across the states recruited their own local spy networks and attempted to detect British and Loyalist spy networks with varying degrees of success. In 1775, Congress created a Committee of Secret Correspondence to oversee all intelligence activities – essentially America’s first intelligence entity (I hesitate to say agency). Benjamin Franklin was a member. A year later, Congress established a Committee on Spies. John Adams was a member of that one. Additionally, New York’s “Committee to Detect Conspiracies” oversaw counterespionage operations in and around New York City, famously uncovering a plot to assassinate George Washington. John Jay was the committee’s original Chairman.

                                                                                                                                                                                

John Jay

Regarding military intelligence, Washington directed much of the intelligence activity centered on the main Continental Army. He was both the consumer and the producer of intelligence. His action arm was initially under the direction of Thomas Knowlton and later Benjamin Tallmadge. Both play cameo roles in the Yankee Doodle Spies series. As commander in chief, he personally spent a considerable amount of time fretting over and developing sources of information, including spies, informants, prisoners, intercepted correspondence, and even what we today call “open source.”

Benjamin Tallmadge

But after the war, there was no comprehensive intelligence organization for most of the Army’s history. Instead, the function fluctuated. The Army eventually adopted the modern staff system with intelligence centralized around an appointed G2 and intelligence officers assigned from other Army branches. In wartime, tasks were completed effectively, but intelligence must be involved in both peace and war.

Fortunately, 50 years ago this year, the Army finally resolved the issue by establishing Military Intelligence as a branch, professionalizing its intelligence officer corps for the first time. Twenty-five years ago, the Army took it a step further by forming the Military Intelligence Corps, integrating its enlisted cadre into a professional body to enhance the quality of intelligence provided to the United States Army.

The benefits of creating the MI Branch and Corps were numerous, but foremost among them was a trained and dedicated cadre of men and women advocating for the service branch that George Washington valued so highly.  

On Hallowed Ground

In an earlier post, I discussed the genesis for setting The Patriot Spy at the Battle of Long Island.  Several times during the writing of the book, I returned to the neighborhoods that the battle encompassed.  Some of them were neighborhoods I had lived in long ago, Park Slope and Flatbush - both in the heart of Brooklyn.

On one of my return trips,  I went to where I had reckoned was the site of the pivotal point of the battle  – the forlorn hope attack by the gallant Marylanders and their brothers in arms from Delaware (who are actually depicted on the cover of The Patriot Spy). It was a gray autumn day. We drove to the intersection of 3rd Avenue and 8th Street in Park Slope – the spot where I had believed the fallen 300 from the engagement had been laid to rest.  

There, in front of an auto repair shop, I stood looking at an old building across the street. Surrounded by scaffolding, it was clearly in the process of demolition.  A large burly guy with a thick gold necklace saw me standing there and exited the repair shop.

“Can I help you?” He asked, more as a challenge than a question, thick Brooklyn accent.

“I’m looking for a marker,” I replied.  One of the sourcebooks I used indicated the existence of a small marker on the side of a building.

“A marker?  Marker for whad?”  He asked with a really puzzled look.

“Almost three hundred  Americans died here and are buried in a mass grave,” I answered.

“Died? When?  How? Who done it?” He looked stunned and puzzled, and this being Brooklyn, likely thought this had something to do with the mob. 

“There was a great battle here in 1776.  Almost three hundred patriots were killed fighting the British and are supposed to be buried near here.”

He nodded his head knowingly. “Oh yeah, well, I ain’t never seen no marker, but it wuz probably on dat building.”

I looked across the street at the building, now encased in scaffolding and plywood and surrounded by a chain-link fence. I decided my search was over.  

I relate this anecdote to call readers' attention to a recent article in the New York Times that highlights the efforts of a local Brooklyn historian named Bob Furman. Furman is leading an effort to identify, preserve, and appropriately commemorate some of the key points on the battlefield. The article is worth reading as it highlights the challenges of trying to preserve a sense of history in the midst of urbanization.

Gowanus Canal

More than one hundred years ago, a growing city’s appetite for residential and industrial land overran the area. Hard to believe that this highly built-up slice of New York was once the site of beautiful farms, fields, orchards, and woods. Hard to believe that gallant and brave men once fought desperately for their lives and their new nation on these bustling streets.   Let's hope Furman and his associates at the Brooklyn Preservation Council have some success in reclaiming some of this hallowed ground. But sadly, most vestiges of the Revolutionary War battle and the very terrain it was fought are gone.