Gabriel didn't need to admit that he was the one carrying the message

When the British soldiers find the message Gabriel Martin was carrying and Colonel Tavington demands to know who carried it, Benjamin Martin could have easily made up a story about someone else carrying it. He could have said that it was carried by a wounded soldier who had already died of his wounds or said that it was carried by a soldier who had come and gone in the middle of the night. Either he or Gabriel could have easily done that. It was completely unnecessary for Gabriel to admit to being the one who carried the message. It’s just so ridiculous that he forfeited his life so quickly and easily.