Nathan Hale - Hartford, CT
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 41° 45.859 W 072° 40.971
18T E 692613 N 4626204
A statue of Connecticut state hero, Nathan Hale, is located in the east atrium of the Capitol Building in Hartford, CT.
Waymark Code: WMMENH
Location: Connecticut, United States
Date Posted: 09/09/2014
Views: 4
Nathan Hale was born in Coventry, Connecticut on June 6, 1755. He attended Yale University and graduated in 1773. In 1775, he joined a Connecticut militia as a first lieutenant. After the battle of Long Island in, August 1776, Washington retreated to Manhattan. He desperately needed information on British troop movements. On September 8, 1776, Captain Nathan Hale volunteered to go behind enemy lines to obtain the information and report back to General Washington.
He was secretly ferried into Long Island. Subsequently, lower Manhattan was captured by the British and Washington fled to Harlem Heights. Hale was captured in Flushing Bay, Queens and brought to Manhattan where, on September 22, 1776, twenty-one year old Nathan Hale was hanged as a spy. In 1985, he was officially designated the state hero of Connecticut.
An 8' high bronze sculpture of Nathan Hale stands on a 5' high by 4' square polished granite base which is decorated with bronze leaves on all for sides near the top of the base. Nathan Hale is standing on a bronze plinth. He is wearing an open jacket with large cuffs, a shirt with the collar opened to reveal his chest, trousers and buckled shoes. He has his arms buy his side with his hands open and his palms facing forward.
The statue was created by Karl Gerhardt and installed in 1886. The front of the base is inscribed:
NATHAN HALE
I ONLY REGRET
THAT I HAVE BUT ONE LIFE
TO LOSE FOR MY COUNTRY
Visitors can tour the Connecticut Capitol Building by entering the west entrance. The building is open for visitors Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm. Guided tours are available at quarter past the hour until 13:15. Self-guided booklets are available on the first floor.