Update on my General Hand Article

While I have not yet seen the final, published piece, I am happy to report that my Patriots of the American Revolution magazine article on General Edward Hand (1744-1802) has been well received thus far. You can find it in the March/April 2011 issue (shown here), which should be appearing on newsstands about now. The magazine staff noted on the "Patriots" Facebook fan page that the article has "already received great praise" from readers.

While it always feels great to get a compliment, I am particularly delighted that General Hand is getting some well deserved attention from American Revolution history enthusiasts. I, along with several good friends who are direct Edward Hand descendants, have been working hard to get his name back in public circulation. In addition, Samuel Slaymaker and the staff at Rock Ford Plantation (General Hand's restored home in Lancaster, PA) also do an OUTSTANDING job of commemorating the general and his many accomplishments.

In my opinion, General Hand is definitely one of the conflict's unsung heroes. You can read about his outstanding leadership and heroics in my article. I sometimes wonder why he has not been better remembered by history - especially considering that he served as George Washington's adjutant general for much of the conflict.

My sense is that since he spent his service as a general pursuing administrative work, it caused him to be overshadowed by other generals (Daniel Morgan, Nathanael Greene) who won acclaim for their heroics on the battlefield. While Hand was also a gifted combat commander, his battlefield service occurred when he was colonel of the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment. As such, his name probably did not get out into public circulation as much as the higher-ranking generals.

At any rate, I hope this magazine article serves as a catalyst for renewed public interest in this fascinating Revolutionary War figure!

My Upcoming Magazine Article on General Hand

I got confirmation recently that my article on the Revolutionary War career of Maj. Gen. Edward Hand (1744-1802) will appear in the March/April 2011 issue of Patriots of the American Revolution magazine. I am very excited about this piece because it will bring some attention to one of the unsung heroes of the American Revolution. A native of Ireland who later settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, General Hand enjoyed a distinguished Revolutionary War career that culminated with his service as George Washington's adjutant general during the Battle of Yorktown in 1781. While he certainly ran into some obstacles along the way, General Hand was one of those rare Continental Army commanders who was highly effective as both an administrator and a combat commander. In fact, he helped save the Continental Army from complete disaster on at least two occasions during the war. You can read more about that in my upcoming article!

I am also privileged to count among my friends several of General Hand's direct descendants and had the honor of speaking at their family reunion last Fall in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. A highlight of that experience was getting to spend time in General Hand's restored home, Rock Ford Plantation, which is now a museum and special events venue. I would highly recommend visiting Rock Ford to anyone who is interested in 18th century American history. They possess an incredible collection of General Hand's personal effects - including my favorite piece - his Society of the Cincinnati membership certificate that was hand-signed by George Washington himself! It is definitely a must-see!

Anyway, I hope that this upcoming magazine article is the first of many publications that I get the honor to draft concerning General Hand's life and career. He is a fascinating figure who deserves to be better remembered by history.

Upcoming Revolutionary War Magazine Articles

Tidewater Historian is back after a short hiatus! I spent the bulk of November, December, and early January completing some writing projects and tending to my wife (who is pregnant with our first child), so please forgive the lack of posts lately. Anyways, I am pleased to announce that I will have two articles published in upcoming issues of "Patriots of the American Revolution" magazine. "Patriots" is great, up-and-coming publication that fills an important void in the world of magazines devoted to American history. While we have many great Civil War magazines in circulation, there has not been as much out there devoted to the American Revolution, so kudos to "Patriots" editor Tim Jacob and his team for providing this great resource!

Anyways, the first article that will be published is a biographical piece on Maj. Gen. Edward Hand (1744-1802), who served as George Washington's adjutant general during the Battle of Yorktown. General Hand was one of those rare military leaders during that era who could function equally well as either a combat commander or an administrator, so he had a quite eventful career during the war. I have several friends who are Hand descendants, and had the privilege last fall of speaking at their family reunion held in Hand's hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Thus, I am quite interested in doing more research and writing on General Hand and will keep you posted as more of my work on him appears in print.

The second article (that will be published in a separate issue) is a biographical piece on my distant cousin, Maj. Gen. William Heath (1737-1814) of Massachusetts. Like General Hand, William Heath worked closely with George Washington over the course of the war. However, Heath was more effective as an administrator than a combat commander during the conflict, and was best known for the challenging job of managing British John Burgoyne's surrendered convention army following the Battle of Saratoga. As with General Hand, I plan on doing more research and writing on General Heath in the future.

Ultimately, I really enjoy highlighting the work of Continental Army commanders who served faithfully during the conflict, but are not as well known to history as some of their peers (i.e. Daniel Morgan, Nathanael Greene). If you happen to come across "Patriots of the American Revolution" while visiting your local Barnes & Noble or other bookstore, please take a look!

Upcoming Magazine Article on Maj. Gen. Edward Hand

Tidewater Historian is back! I have spent most of this year working on a book, which created a longer than expected hiatus from this blog. However, now I am back and will hope to post much more regularly. I am pleased to announce that I have an article coming out the Nov./Dec. issue of the new magazine, Patriots of the American Revolution, entitled "Washington's Adjutant: General Edward Hand and his contributions to the American Revolution." General Hand is one of the Revolutionary War's unsung heroes, and I hope we can make the public more aware of him through this article and other publication outlets.

Here is some information about General Hand from the National Park Service (Yorktown Battlefield) Website:

Hand, Edward. 1744-1802.

"Edward Hand was born in Kings County, Ireland. Interested in pursuing a career in medicine, he went to Trinity College, in Dublin, to study to become a doctor. Hand wished to bypass the 5 year apprenticeship to become a doctor and joined the British army as a surgeons mate. He was sent to America and served mostly at Fort Pitt. Hand eventually sold his commission in 1774 and moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

When the war began, Hand was made lieutenant colonel of a battalion of Pennsylvania riflemen which was sent to join the American army camped outside Boston. During a reorganization of the American army, Hand was promoted to colonel in command of the 1st Continental Regiment. He fought with the regiment until April 1777.

Hand was then promoted to brigadier general and sent to command the American forces at Fort Pitt. He spent the next 2 1/2 years fighting Loyalists and Indians in the west. In 1780, Hand was recalled from the west and given command of a brigade of light infantry in Lafayette's Division. He did not remain a brigade commander long, for in February 1781 he was appointed adjutant general of Washington's army.

Hand traveled with George Washington to Mount Vernon and then on to Williamsburg to begin preparations for the battle at Yorktown. As Adjutant General at Yorktown, he helped prepare the siege plans and kept track of all statistics, such as casualties. Hand served as Adjutant General until 1783. He was promoted to brevet major general shortly before resigning from the army in the autumn of that same year. He returned to Lancaster, PA, where he died of cholera on September 4, 1802."