Hale was sent to New York immediately and placed before General Howe, to whom he said frankly that he was a spy. The British general wrote out his death warrant, "to be hanged to-morrow morning at sunrise." Not even the death of a soldier was to be his. His brutal guard refused to let him send a last letter to his people. Alone he spent the night, without the comfort of friend or minister. At daybreak he was dragged forth to execution. A crowd of strange people had gathered to see him die. It is said that the officer asked him if there was anything he wished to say. Brave to the last, Nathan Hale answered: "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." Thus, at the age of twenty-two, died Nathan Hale, who held his country dearer than his own life. GENERALS GREENE, MORGAN, AND MARION, THE MEN WHO HELPED WIN THE SOUTH FROM THE BRITISH [Sidenote: =Moultrie repulses attack on Charleston=] =95. The War in the South.= Early in the Revolutionary War British vessels made an attack on Charleston, South Carolina (1776). But Colonel Moultrie, from his rude fort of palmetto logs, gave them such a welcome that they were glad to get away, and for two years the British gave the southern colonies little trouble. [Sidenote: =Charleston surrenders to Cornwallis=] But in 1778 another British army captured Savannah, Georgia. In 1780 the city of Charleston, South Carolina, with General Lincoln's entire army, surrendered to Cornwallis. Congress hastened General Gates to the South to check the British, but Cornwallis surprised Gates and cut his army to pieces near Camden. [Illustration: NATHANAEL GREENE _From a painting by Charles Wilson Peale, once owned by Mrs. William Brenton Greene, Jr., Princeton, New Jersey, and now in Independence Hall, Philadelphia_] [Sidenote: =Greene goes south to watch Cornwallis=] =96. Nathanael Greene, the Quaker General.= Washington now chose Nathanael Greene, the "Quaker general," to go south, take command of the American army, and to watch Cornwallis, who had just defeated Gates. Greene was born in Roger Williams' old colony, and was ten years younger than Washington. His father was a farmer, a miner, and a blacksmith on week days, and a Quaker preacher on Sundays. [Sidenote: =The "learned blacksmith"=] As a boy Nathanael had plenty of hard work to do, and at thirteen could "only read, write, and cipher." But he was hungry for more knowledge, and began to study Latin, mathematics, philosophy, and history. Besides, he made iron toys, and sold them to buy books. His family got into a lawsuit, and Nathanael took up the study of law. He was called the "learned blacksmith." [Illustration: GREENE'S GUN _Now in the possession of the Rhode Island Historical Association_] [Sidenote: =He buys a musket=]