Edward Hand
BIRTH
Dec 31, 1744
King's County, Ireland
DEATH
September 3, 1802
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Delegate to the Continental Congress (PA)
FAMILY
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Hand, Edward
(1744-1802)
Edward Hand was an Irish soldier, physician, 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.
HOMES:
MUSEUM
Edward Hand's Rock Ford Museum
881 Rockford Rd, Lancaster, PA 17602
GRAVE:
MARKER
Grave of Edward Hand
St James Cemetery, Lancaster, PA 17602
3
Places | Image | Address | GPS | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Edward Hand's Rock Ford Museum | 881 Rockford Rd, Lancaster, PA 17602 | MUSEUM | ||
Elizabethtown Marker | 804 Elizabeth Ave, Elizabeth, NJ 07201 | MARKER | ||
Grave of Edward Hand | St James Cemetery, Lancaster, PA 17602 | MARKER |
DIED:
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Sep 3, 1802
Hand was born in Clyduff, King's County (now County Offaly), Ireland, on 31 December 1744, and was baptised in Shinrone. 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.
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). 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.
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.