18 Facts About Edward Hand

Edward Hand 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.

Edward Hand was a descendant of either the families of Mag Fhlaithimh or O Flaithimhin who, through mistranslation, became Lavin or Hand.

In 1767, Edward Hand enlisted as a Surgeon's Mate in the 18th Regiment of Foot.

In 1774, Edward Hand moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he practiced medicine.

Edward Hand was active in forming the Lancaster County Associators, a colonial militia.

Edward Hand was a 32nd degree Freemason, belonging to the Montgomery Military Lodge number 14.

Edward Hand entered the Continental Army in 1775 as a lieutenant colonel in the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment under Colonel William Thompson.

Edward Hand was promoted to colonel in 1776 and placed in command of the 1st Continental.

In early 1778, Edward Hand led an expedition into the Ohio country to capture a small British magazine on the Cuyahoga River near Lake Erie, which could be used to supply Native American nations who had allied with the British, such as the Wyandot and the Shawnee.

However, failing to distinguish among Native American groups, the unruly militiamen under Edward Hand's command attacked the neutral Lenape village of Kuskusky, killing the mother, brother, and a child of Chief Hopocan, known as Captain Pipe.

Edward Hand was later recalled after serving over a year at Fort Pitt, to command a brigade in Major General La Fayette's division.

The journals kept by the officers on the expedition indicate that Edward Hand played a major role in the success of the campaign.

Edward Hand was an original member of the Society of the Cincinnati.

Edward Hand returned to Lancaster and resumed the practice of medicine.

Edward Hand was an enslaver, owning several enslaved people, one of whom, Frank, ran away in 1802.

Edward Hand is suspected to have died from typhoid, dysentery or pneumonia at Rock Ford in 1802.

Medical records are unclear, but some sources state Edward Hand died of cholera.

Edward Hand is buried in St James's Episcopal Cemetery in Lancaster, the same church where he had served as a deacon.