Irish-born American military officer and politician
Edward Hand
(31 December 1744 ? 3 September 1802) was an Irish-born American military officer and politician who served in the
Continental Army
during the
American Revolutionary War
, rising to the rank of general, and later was a member of several
Pennsylvania
governmental bodies.
Early life and career
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Hand was born in Clyduff, King's County (now
County Offaly
),
Ireland
, on 31 December 1744, and was baptised in
Shinrone
. His father was John Hand. Among his immediate neighbours were the Kearney family, ancestors of U.S. President
Barack Obama
.
[1]
He was a descendant of either the families of
Mag Fhlaithimh
(of south
Ulaidh
and
Mide
) or
O Flaithimhin
(of the
Siol Muireadaigh
) who, through mistranslation (
Flaithimh
/
Flaithimhin
into
Laimhin
;
laimh
=
hand
), became
Lavin
or Hand.
[2]
Hand earned a medical certificate from
Trinity College, Dublin
. In 1767, Hand enlisted as a Surgeon's Mate in the
18th (Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot
. On 20 May 1767, he sailed with the regiment from Cobh, Cork, Ireland, arriving at
Philadelphia
on 11 July 1767. In 1772, he was commissioned an ensign. He marched with the regiment to
Fort Pitt
, on the forks of the
Ohio River
, returning to Philadelphia in 1774, where he resigned his commission.
In 1774, Hand moved to
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
, where he practiced medicine. On 13 March 1775, he married Katherine Ewing (born 25 March 1751 in
Philadelphia
,
Pennsylvania
). Lancaster was the region of some of the earliest
Irish
and
Scots-Irish
settlements in Pennsylvania. Hand was active in forming the Lancaster County
Associators
, a colonial
militia
.
Hand was a 32nd degree
Freemason
, belonging to the Montgomery Military Lodge number 14.
American Revolution
[
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]
Hand entered the
Continental Army
in 1775 as a
lieutenant colonel
in the
1st Pennsylvania Regiment
under Colonel
William Thompson
. He was promoted to
colonel
in 1776 and placed in command of the 1st Continental (then designated the 1st Pennsylvania).
[3]
Promoted to
brigadier general
in March 1777, he served as the commander of
Fort Pitt
, fighting British loyalists and their Indian allies. He was recalled, after over two years at Fort Pitt, to serve as a
brigade
commander in
Major General
La Fayette
's division.
In 1778, Hand attacked the
Lenape
village
Kuskusky
, killing
Captain Pipe
's mother, brother, and a few of his children during a military campaign.
[4]
Failing to distinguish among the Native American groups, Hand had attacked the neutral Lenape while trying to reduce the Indian threat to settlers in the Ohio Country, because other tribes, such as the Shawnee, had allied with the British.
Planning for a campaign against the Iroquois was already under way, and Hand’s frontier experience naturally recommended him as a participant. In the resulting
Sullivan-Clinton Iroquois Expedition
(May-November 1779) through the
Southern Tier
and
Finger Lakes
regions of New York, Edward Hand commanded the Third Brigade, composed of the Fourth and Eleventh Pennsylvania Regiments, the
German Regiment
,
Proctor’s Artillery
, Captain James Parr’s Riflemen, Captain Anthony Selin’s Riflemen, and two Wyoming companies. The brigade composed the “Light Corps” of Sullivan’s army and formed its
vanguard
. The journals kept by the officers on the expedition indicate that Hand played a major role in the success of the campaign. When he rejoined his family in Lancaster at the close of the year he was thirty-five years old, the youngest of the brigadiers.
[5]
After a few months, he was appointed
Adjutant General
of the Continental Army and served during the
siege of Yorktown
in that capacity. In recognition of his long and distinguished service, he was, in September 1783, promoted by
brevet
to major general. He resigned from the Army in November 1783.
He was an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati.
[6]
After the Revolution
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]
Hand returned to Lancaster and resumed the practice of medicine. A
Federalist
, Hand was active in civil affairs, holding posts that included:
Beginning in 1785, he owned and operated
Rock Ford plantation
, a 177-acre (0.72 km
2
) farm on the banks of the
Conestoga River
, one mile (1.6 km) south of
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
. The
Georgian
brick mansion remains today; the farm is a historic site open to the public. Hand was also an
enslaver
, owning several enslaved people, one of whom, Frank, ran away in 1802.
[7]
Hand is suspected to have died from typhoid, dysentery or pneumonia at Rock Ford in 1802. Medical records are unclear, but some sources state Hand died of cholera. There is no evidence Lancaster County suffered from a cholera epidemic in 1802. Hand is buried in St. James's Episcopal Cemetery in Lancaster, the same church where he had served as a deacon.
References
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External links
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