Free King George by Steve Sheinkin Page B

put the rope around his neck, did Nathan Hale really say the famous line?

    â€œI only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”

    Yes he did, according to Hale’s friend William Hull. Hull wasn’t at the hanging, of course, but he got the story from a British officer who watched the execution.
    And that’s pretty much all we know about Nathan Hale.
    More Bad News
    M eanwhile, the Continental army was busy moving backward again.
    As one of the soldiers in charge of guarding the shore of Manhattan, Joseph Plumb Martin kept a watch on the water. Every few
minutes he and the other American guards called to each other, “All is well!”
    But the enemy ships were so close, British soldiers could hear the Americans talking. And when they heard the Americans say, “All is well!” they called back, “We will alter your tune before tomorrow night!” They kept their promise.
    The British attacked again on September 15. And again the untrained Americans were forced to retreat. In the panic and confusion, Martin got separated from his unit. He was soon sprinting across the island of Manhattan, with the British army close behind. He dove into a swamp and hid behind bushes and weeds while the British marched past. “Several of the British came so near to me that I could see the buttons on their clothes. They, however, soon withdrew and left the coast clear for me again.”
    Washington stood on the battlefield watching his soldiers run for their lives. He screamed for the men to stop. He even hit a few of them as they passed, but the soldiers were simply too scared to stop running.
    An American officer named George Weedon witnessed Washington’s fury on this day. “The General,” Weedon said, “three times dashed his hat on the ground, and at last exclaimed, ‘Good God, have I got such troops as those!’”
    Other witnesses heard Washington shouting: “Are these the men with whom I am to defend America?”
    Washington was so angry, his officers had to pull him off the battlefield to keep him from getting captured.
    Is This the End?
    T he Continental army continued fighting and retreating through October and November. The British chased them out of New York City, across the Hudson River, and south into New Jersey. “As we go forward into the country the Rebels fly before us,” said British captain William Bamford. “’Tis almost impossible to catch them.”
    Things were looking terrible for Washington’s army—what was left of it, that is. Soldiers were deserting every day. “Great numbers of them have gone off; in some instances almost by whole regiments,” Washington reported to Congress.
    To make things worse, men were taking Continental army guns and ammunition home with them. One guy even tried to take home a cannonball! When it was found in his bag, he had an excuse ready. He wanted to give it to his mother, he said. She could use it to pound spices.
    By the end of November, Washington had just three thousand men left. This little army crossed the Delaware River and set up camp in Pennsylvania. Washington sent Congress an update, saying, “The situation of our affairs is critical and truly alarming.” Congress agreed. With the British moving closer and closer to Philadelphia, the members of Congress decided to pack up and run away to Baltimore.
    What else could go wrong? Plenty. Cold weather was coming and the soldiers had no winter clothing. And there was never enough to eat. Joseph Plumb Martin remembered the men in his unit going without food for two full days. When they complained of hunger pains, an angry officer reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of dried corn that was burnt to a black crisp and said, “Here, eat this and learn to be a soldier.”

    Now for the worst part: Washington’s small army was about to get even smaller. Most of the soldiers had enlisted in the