September 7. 1776

A Council of War recommended to Washington that the American Army remain in New York and fight to hold the city. Washington ordered Col. Thomas Knowlton to organize a picked unit of rangers, to be used chiefly on scouting duties. Among the volunteers was a genteel, young officer named Nathan Hale who later would undertake an espionage assignment to determine British activities on Long Island.

>Knowlton's Rangers- America's first official spies