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Voice 3: Nathan Hale During The Civil War

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Voice 3: It’s 1775. Colonial Americans and the British have now entered into a global war that grew from the battles at Lexington and Concord. Espionage was conducted for the first time by General George Washington.

Voice 2: Nathan Hale volunteered to be the first spy, and on September 12, 1776, the Americans sent him behind enemy lines. He was to gather intelligence before the Battle of Harlem Heights took place.

Voice 1: Nathan Hale was born in Coventry, Connecticut on June 6, 1755. At age 14, Nathan enrolled at Yale University. While at Yale, he became close friends with Benjamin Tallmadge, a fellow Yale student who would later become George Washington’s head of intelligence during the Revolutionary War. Hale graduated from Yale with honors and became a school teacher in nearby East Haddam, and later in New London. When the war began Hale joined the Connecticut militia becoming the first sergeant. Disguised as a school teacher, he was captured by British forces near present-day Queens following the torching of New York City. …show more content…

A half-cent stamp, the first half-cent stamp in U.S. history, was required by new postal rates established in 1925. Hale was selected to appear on that stamp by Postmaster General Harry New. Since no images of Hale are known, the stamp's designer, Clair Aubrey Huston, based his work on a photograph of a clay model of a statue of Hale located on the campus of Yale University.

Voice 3: While Hale was behind enemy lines, the British invaded the island of Manhattan; they took control of the city on September 15, 1776. When the city was set on fire on September 20, 1776, British soldiers were put on high alert for sympathizers to the Patriot cause. The following evening, on September 21, 1776, Hale was captured while sailing Long Island Sound, trying to cross back into American-controlled

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