New York Times Trashes Revolutionary War Hero Nathan Hale

The latest example is a Sunday New York Times article trashing Revolutionary War hero Nathan Hale. Hale, a Connecticut schoolteacher and graduate of Yale University, was a captain in the Continental Army when he volunteered to go behind British lines in Long Island in 1776 as a spy to gather information on British troop strength and plans. The story of his fearless patriotism and bravery in the face of death by hanging once he was discovered is one of the inspiring stories in American history.

Before he was hanged by his British executioner, he was asked if he had any final words and he said, "I only regret I have but one life to lose for my country." The CIA website notes that his story "has served as an inspiration for other patriots who have entered the profession of intelligence gathering and as an example of the highest degree of commitment, honor, and the willingness to sacrifice for what you believe in."

But in its stridently negative hit-piece on Hale, the *Slimes refers to Hale's "blunders," his "monumentally naïve mistakes," his "inexperienced espionage," and his "failure as a spy." The Times article quotes a Library of Congress "historian" who calls Hale "stupid."

This blatantly negative New York *Slimes hit piece even tries to cast doubt on Hale's heroism, saying that Hale was only "reputed to have uttered his famous line, 'I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.'" The *Slimes works to denigrate Hale's dying statement further by calling it "probably a paraphrase of a line from a popular play by the British writer Joseph Addison." On the other hand, the *Slimes article calls the man responsible for deceiving Hale and causing his capture and death a "British hero."

The antagonistic *Slimes article on Hale was based on a recently unearthed manuscript at the Library of Congress which was written at the time of the American Revolution by Consider Tiffany, described by the *Slimes as "a Connecticut storekeeper and British sympathizer." A descendant of Tiffany donated the manuscript to the Library of Congress in the year 2000.

In its article, the New York *Slimes tries to outdo "British sympathizer" Tiffany in its lack of sympathy for Hale. This bashing of Hale is taken directly from the media's trash-America playbook. Despite the recent scandal which has shaken the newspaper to its very foundations, the disgraced *Slimes shows no let-up in its far-left agenda.

Remember that this is the same paper that glorified Fidel Castro and covered up Stalin's crimes. But going after American patriot Nathan Hale is perfectly acceptable, even though the source was obviously biased against the American revolution.

Words with * In front them are edited by the poster Webber.

Arnie Steinberg can be reached at
aimeditor@yahoo.com

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the "new york times"? i don't think i'm familiar with that paper. sounds like just another liberal rag that takes itself too seriously.

Hale was very young, didn't know spycraft, was a huge man with conspicuous scars and, to top it all off, had an estranged turncoat brother who was running the British prison in New York City. He was just the wrong man to send there and Washington regretted it.

INTREP

After the liberals finish sliming all our founding fathers,
they will feel more justified to erase all their names from
our children's textbooks, and substitute more politically
correct names.

Our CHILDREN and GRANDCHILDREN will soon be taught more about
Mexico's view of the Mexican-American war, or former slave's mistreatment and their struggles to free themselves, than they will ever be taught about our American Revolution.

Manuscript reveals how British caught Nathan Hale

Carl Hartman, Associated Press

Published October 5, 2003

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A manuscript given to the Library of Congress may solve a mystery as old as the American Revolution: how the British caught and executed Nathan Hale for spying.

It turns out that Hale, considered by the CIA to be the first American executed for spying for his country, probably made some monumentally naive mistakes -- chief among them trusting a stranger with the secret of his mission. Those blunders could have led to his hanging 227 years ago.

Details of Hale's capture have eluded historians, but library officials have new information from the manuscript, written during or soon after the Revolution by Consider Tiffany, a Connecticut storekeeper and British sympathizer. The document was donated to the library in 2000 by a descendant, G. Bradford Tiffany.

Ardent patriot

According to James Hutson, head of the library's manuscript division, the document appears to identify Maj. Robert Rogers, a British hero from the earlier French and Indian War, as the man who trapped Hale by pretending to be a colonial spy himself.

A handsome, athletic Connecticut schoolteacher and Yale graduate, Hale was an ardent patriot who rose in the Continental Army to captain in 1776. Later that year, Gen. George Washington, the army's commander, was driven out of Long Island by the British and badly needed information on the enemy's strength and plans, which meant sending a spy into British territory.

Hale volunteered saying it was his patriotic duty.

"I wish to be useful, and every kind of service necessary to the public good becomes honorable by being necessary," he told Capt. William Hull, a friend from his regiment who tried to dissuade him.

Hale put on civilian clothes and left his uniform, silver shoe buckles and papers with a fellow soldier. He found a boat to cross Long Island Sound from Norwalk, Conn., to Long Island proper, where he slipped behind enemy lines.

Untrained in the arts of spying, Hale evidently was easy prey for the canny Rogers, an expert frontier warrior who had led a group of highly trained rangers in the French and Indian War.

Rogers had escaped from American captivity and was recruiting troops for the British on Long Island. According to the Tiffany manuscript, Rogers had been observing Hale for some days, suspecting that the young man was in disguise. He decided to engage him in conversations about the war.

Rogers led Hale to believe they were on the same side and that he himself was "upon the business of spying out the inclination of the people and motion of the British troops," Tiffany wrote.

The unsuspecting Hale told Rogers of his own mission, and Rogers invited him to dinner at his quarters, where he and several friends began the same kind of talk, the manuscript said.

"But at the height of their conversation, a company of soldiers surrounded the house, and by orders from the commander, seized Captain Hale in an instant," Tiffany wrote.

The rest of Hale's story was reported by his friend Hull, who got his account from a British officer sent to Washington's headquarters for an exchange of prisoners. The officer, Capt. John Montressor, told him that Hale was brought before the British commander, William Howe, in Manhattan.

"He at once declared his name, his rank in the American army, and his object in coming within the British lines," Hull reported.

The British hanged Hale the next morning, Sept. 22, 1776, at an artillery park near Dove Tavern. Historians place it near what is now 66th Street and Third Avenue in Manhattan.

It was there Hale is reputed to have uttered his famous words, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country" -- likely a paraphrase of a line from a popular play by British writer Joseph Addison.

In an article for the Library of Congress' "Information Bulletin," Hutson discussed Hale's inept espionage.

"How could anyone on a secret mission be so stupid, or to use more generous terms, so naive or so credulous, to be taken in by a perfect stranger and then to disclose, the next day, the object of his mission to several more perfect strangers?" Hutson wrote.

The Old Gray Whore has a history of backing dastardly bastards.

Its denying that Stalin intentionally starved ten million was a case in point.

At another juncture it gleefully reported the gulag was a cross between the WPA and the Hudson Bay Company.

Jayson Blair is the poster boy for the fishwrap, while its motto is the memorable,

All Is Skewed To Fit Our Bent

The hardworking staff of the rag of record takes a rare respite:

Details of Hale's capture have eluded historians, but library officials have new information from the manuscript, written during or soon after the Revolution by Consider Tiffany, a Connecticut storekeeper and British sympathizer.

I'm sure there's no writing bias in that manuscript.

Thanks for the article, ST.

We got our revenge when General Washington hanged Major Andre (or should I say Captain Andre?). It was said at the time that Howe and Andre were altogether too close.