VALENTINE'S MANUAL
 

NATHAN HALE AND SOME REMARKS ABOUT
MAJOR ANDRE

By George A. Zabriskie

The rededication of the Nathan Hale statue at City
Hall Park, under the auspices of the Sons of the Revolu¬
tion on Flag Day, recalls to mind his prototype in the
English Army—Major Andre—whose capture disclosed
the perfidy of Benedict Arnold and saved West Point to
the Americans.

It is unfortunate that we have not the clear record of
Captain Hale's last undertaking, that we have of Major
Andre's, for it is not possible to reflect upon his early life
and achievements without feeling that it would have con¬
tributed much to patriotic interest.

All we know positively is that after the battle of Long
Island, General Washington, intrenched in what is now
uptown New York, was in great need of information as
to the probable next move of the British, and Nathan
Hale volunteered to try and obtain it. At this time the
British Main Army occupied lower New York, with the
Beekman House, 51st Street and First Avenue, serving
as the Headquarters of General Howe. A strong force
was also located on Long Island, and their fleet was
actively engaged in patrolling the waters all about. It
was necessary, therefore, for Hale to proceed as far east
as Norwalk, where, changing his uniform for civilian
clothes and assuming the role of a Dutch schoolmaster,
he arranged wth one of our sloops of war—probably the
Schuyler—to take him across the Long Island Sound to

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