born June 6, 1755, Coventry, Conn.
died Sept. 22, 1776, Manhattan Island, N.Y., U.S.
American Revolutionary officer.
After graduating from Yale University (1773), he became a schoolteacher. In 1775 he joined a Connecticut regiment and took part in the siege of Boston. Made a captain in 1776, he helped capture a British provision sloop on Long Island. Volunteering for spy duty, he penetrated British lines but was captured while returning and hanged without trial the next day at the age of 21. His last words reportedly were, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country," a remark similar to one made in Joseph Addison 's play Cato .