This edition of the Yankee Doodle Spies continues the theme of profiling Revolutionary War figures who appear in my upcoming novel, The Winter Spy. Coincidentally, we will once again profile a native of Ireland, this time a patriot from the South.
School and Service
Edward Hand was born into a prominent Anglo-Irish family in King’s County (now Offaly), Ireland, on December 31, 1744. His family was able to send him to Trinity College in Dublin, where he studied medicine and earned a surgeon’s certificate in 1766.
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| Trinity College |
True to the Irish way, instead of a five-year apprenticeship, young Edward joined the 18th Regiment of Foot (later known as the Royal Irish Regiment) of the British Army as a surgeon’s mate. In 1767, his regiment sailed from Cobh (Cork) to the colony of Pennsylvania. The regiment was quickly marched west to garrison the area around Fort Pitt (today's Pittsburgh). On the way, they passed through Lancaster, in the heart of today’s Amish country. Hand was impressed with the beauty and promise of the region, and it would play a role later in his life.
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| Private of the 18th Regiment of Foot |
Frontier Doctor
Edward Hand, the surgeon’s mate, took an interest in some of the local native tribes, especially their use of plants for medicine. His duties as a surgeon probably weren’t too demanding, as Hand became curious about land speculation. He also befriended a Virginia planter named George Washington, who visited Fort Pitt as colonel of the Virginia militia in 1770. The two got along well and formed a bond, which would positively influence young Hand’s future. As tensions increased between the Americans and the British government, the 18th was called back east to Philadelphia. There, Hand saw the growing resentment and calls for liberty among the people of Philadelphia. Like many British officers, he showed some sympathy for the rising cause.
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| Ft Pitt was the key British bastion in the west |
Domestic Tranquility
Although Hand could afford an ensign’s commission by 1772, he didn’t hold it for long. He sold his commission for around 400 pounds in 1774 and moved to Lancaster, where he established a private practice. He quickly integrated into the local community. His medical practice prospered, and he was financially stable because his land investments on the frontier paid off. He was welcomed into Lancaster society, and through a local judge, he met 23-year-old Katharine (Kitty) Ewing. Kitty’s parents, Captain John Ewing and Sarah Yeates, were among Lancaster’s most prominent families. She and Hand married in March 1775. The events in the following month would soon carry him far from his new bride.
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| Lancaster |
The Surgeon Rebel
Over the past year, Hand had become involved with the local patriot cause. So when the call to arms went out after Lexington and Concord, Doctor Hand was named a lieutenant colonel of the 1st Pennsylvania Rifles. This group of skilled marksmen gathered with other regiments from across the colonies to face the British, who were entrenched in Boston. Hand quickly earned a reputation for working closely with his men, making him well-liked by the soldiers he commanded. Colonel Hand’s riflemen soon became known as expert marksmen but were also somewhat unruly. Despite this, Hand performed capably and eventually helped smooth out the rough edges of his troops. Ironically, Hand's old regiment, the 18th, was part of the British garrison that left Boston to the rebel besiegers. In March 1776, he was appointed colonel in charge of the regiment when it was renamed the 1st Continental Line.
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| Colonel Hand's Pennsylvania Rifles' sniping skills were put to good use during the siege of Boston |
Stopping
Cornwallis
Hand and his men performed admirably during the New York campaign of 1776. But his most notable achievement was his skillful command of his troops and clever use of the terrain near Pell's Point at Throg’s Neck on October 12, which helped avert disaster. Under his steady leadership, his riflemen calmly fired on the advancing British forces, effectively preventing a landing by General Charles Cornwallis. Hand’s men quickly moved, torching the bridge over a small creek and positioning themselves behind a stack of wood. From this vantage point, Hand’s riflemen sniped at the approaching regulars, who marched steadily into their line of fire, and successfully held off a large force until additional American troops arrived. Hand’s careful use of firepower allowed Washington’s main army to escape. After similar effective service at White Plains, Hand’s regiment retreated with the diminishing Continental Army across New Jersey that winter.
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| Hand's Pennsylvanians stymied Lord Cornwallis's British regulars and Hessians at Pell's Point |
His next battlefield masterpiece would soon unfold, again at the expense of Lord Cornwallis. On the cold day of January 2, 1777, Hand once more thwarted Cornwallis’s advance, this time at Assunpink Creek near Trenton. This is where Edward Hand appears in The Winter Spy. His skillful maneuvering of several hastily assembled regiments to delay the British column helped his friend, General George Washington, escape a British trap and secure victory at Princeton. Hand’s performance was recognized, and Washington soon recommended him for promotion to brigadier general, which was approved on April 1, 1777. At that time, Edward Hand became the youngest general in the Continental Army.
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| Hand's delaying action helped Washington's army defend Assunpink Creek from another onslaught by Lord Cornwallis |
A New General, an Old Doctor
What to do with a new general? Well, since he knew about the West, Washington quickly sent Hand to the place they first met. Brigadier General Hand reported for duty at his old post, Fort Pitt, where he faced the tough task of defending western Pennsylvania from pro-British Indians and Loyalists. But Hand was soon confronted with something even more dangerous than the tribes and Loyalists—an outbreak of smallpox. Switching from General Hand to Doctor Hand, he had a hospital built to quarantine and treat those infected. Hand even donated six acres of his own land—part of a 331-acre plot in Westmoreland County—for the facility. The “smallpox hospital” was a log building, two stories tall, with three rooms on each level, protected by ten surrounding blockhouses for defense.
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| Hand's organizational skills garnered support for Colonel George Rogers Clark's campaign |
Hoping to launch an offensive against the hostile British allies, he tried to send expeditions against the tribes along the Ohio River. However, he could not gather enough men and supplies until February 1778. In the dead of winter, Hand assembled 500 men, but the column was likely to fail. Still, Hand managed to provide crucial assistance to Colonel George Rogers Clark, whose campaign in the Illinois territory played a key role in weakening British control in the West.
Returning East
Frustrated by the western backwater, Hand requested and was granted a reassignment back east. Along the way, he took time to visit Kitty in Lancaster. From there, Hand traveled to Albany, New York, where he took command of the Northern Department. In this role, he supported General John Sullivan’s punitive expedition and conquest of the Iroquois heartland in 1779, marking a more successful yet equally tragic campaign against the native peoples of New York.
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| Sullivan's campaign against the Iroquois was as tragic as it was successful |
Spy Catcher
No, he was not exactly a spy-catcher. However, Hand was chosen by General Washington to be part of the esteemed 'blue ribbon” group of officers assigned to serve on the court-martial of British Major John Andre, the officer who recruited American traitor Benedict Arnold. Hand was in the company of notable figures such as Nathanael Greene, Arthur St. Clair, Steuben, Lafayette, Henry Knox, John Glover, and others. On September 29, 1780, they found André guilty of being behind American lines "under a feigned name and in a disguised habit" and ordered that "Major André, Adjutant-General to the British Army, ought to be considered as a Spy from the enemy, and that agreeable to the law and usage of nations, it is their opinion, he ought to suffer death."
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| Major John Andre's court-martial had an all-star cast of jurors, including Edward Hand |
The Right Hand
A month later, Brigadier General Hand took command of a special light infantry brigade under Marquis de Lafayette. However, Hand was soon summoned to Washington’s side, replacing Colonel Alexander Scammel as the adjutant general on the Continental Army staff. The adjutant general was a crucial figure on 18th-century military staffs, responsible for issuing orders to the army, collecting monthly reports from the regiments, managing officers' appointments and leaves of absence, and overseeing military reviews, exercises, maneuvers, and discipline. Essentially, they managed the army for the commander. In this role, Edward Hand became General Washington's "right-hand man."
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| Brigadier General Hand was indispensable to General Washington as Adjutant General |
He remained in this key position at Washington’s request, playing a vital role in the complex campaign that led to the dramatic victory at Yorktown in October 1781. The war continued for more than two years after Cornwallis’s surrender – did I mention he had a knack for confounding Cornwallis? Hand’s role was crucial in keeping the Continental Army united as the peace negotiations dragged on. He had to draw from his leadership toolbox once again in 1782. Just as Colonel Hand worked well with his soldiers outside Boston, Brigadier General Hand was essential in suppressing the army’s unrest and the infamous “conspiracy” at Newburgh, New York. Largely as an honor for outstanding service, Hand was promoted to brevet Major General before mustering out in late 1782.
Soldier to Surgeon to Politico to Soldier
With his eight-year struggle for independence concluded, Hand returned to the comforts of his wife and children. In addition to his medical practice, he involved himself in civics, serving in the Continental Congress from 1784 to 85, and in the Pennsylvania assembly from 1785 to 86. As political factions formed into parties, Doctor Hand aligned with his friend and mentor Washington. He became a firm Federalist and was appointed Customs Collector of Pennsylvania’s Third District by President Washington in 1791.
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| Hand served as Adjutant General in the Provisional Army raised by President John Adams to fight the French |
Hand managed to find time in 1794 to serve a short stint with the army, once more as adjutant general, during the Whiskey rebellion. When war with France threatened four years later, Hand was commissioned as a major general and appointed adjutant general of the Provisional Army by President John Adams. But with Thomas Jefferson's election in 1800, our surgeon lost his position as a customs collector and returned to beloved Lancaster.
Family Man
Hand and his wife Kitty had four daughters and two sons, some born during the war, some afterward. Another daughter died in infancy. So, when he left his customs job, Hand had a lot to return home to. Unfortunately, he only had two more years of peace at home. Stricken with a sudden illness, he died at his house in Rock Ford, Pennsylvania, on September 3, 1802.
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| Hand's home at Rock Ford |
As both a doctor and a general, Edward Hand was certainly one of Pennsylvania’s most illustrious citizens and political leaders, having served as a surgeon, businessman, and a military and political leader at both ends of the state. He is also one of the important but little-known leaders I call first-patriots, whose dedicated efforts, patriotism, and talents helped win a nation.
