Hand, Edward, 1744-1802

Edward Hand (31 December 1744 – 3 September 1802) 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.

Born in Clyduff, King's County (now County Offaly), Ireland, Hand earned a medical certificate from Trinity College, Dublin before enlisting 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. 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. Hand returned to Lancaster and resumed the practice of medicine. A Federalist, Hand was active in civil affairs, serving as Chief Burgess of Lancaster, as a member of the Congress of the Confederation in 1784 and 1785, as member of the Pennsylvania Assembly from 1785 to 1786, as a Presidential elector in 1789, and as delegate to the convention for the 1790 Pennsylvania Constitution. Beginning in 1785, he owned and operated Rock Ford plantation where he would die. Hand is buried in St. James's Episcopal Cemetery in Lancaster.