• Hercules Mulligan

  

  Who was Hercules Mulligan, anyway?

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Who Was Hercules Mulligan, Anyway?

Hercules Mulligan (1740-1825) was the son of an Irish immigrant to New York City. Hercules, an illustrious cloth merchant, used his trade to gather intelligence for General George Washington during the American Revolution. British soldiers and officers often came to his shop to have their uniforms and fancy-shmancy outfits made, while Hercules coaxed information out of them. This information would be sent to General Washington, who relied heavily upon such intelligence. The British officers felt safe around Mulligan, since he was the son-in-law of one of the British naval officers. But Mulligan and his wife were strong but secret patriots in a neighborhood of Tories (NYC is still a haven of the enemies of patriots!).

Though his patriotism was not widely known among the NYC neighborhood, it was well known by his American friends. During the 1760’s, when many political leaders were still trying to reconcile with England, Mulligan saw clearly that war was the only way to end the dispute between the American colonies and the “mother country,” and believed that petitions and boycotts were not going to convince the British to change their tyrannical ways. So he became involved in armed militia companies. For instance, Mulligan had participated in a New York “Sons of Liberty” militia club, one of the first to spring up in America. This group fought the first battle of the American Revolution, the Battle of Golden Hill, in 1769. Mulligan was a member of many other patriotic organizations throughout the City and State. During the early 1770s, before the actual outbreak of the Revolution, Mulligan was responsible for nourishing the patriotism of his young friend Alexander Hamilton, who was then residing in Mulligan’s home. Hamilton went on to write the powerful pamphlet “The Farmer Refuted” in defense of the American patriots, establish a volunteer corps of patriot militia known as the Hearts of Oak in 1774, and eventually left King’s College to join the American Continental Army.

During the Revolutionary War, Hercules Mulligan served as an important member of the Culper Spy Ring, a secret group that transmitted vital military intelligence to General Washington, using invisible ink, pseudonyms, and other methods of secret correspondence. (Alexander Rose wrote a book about the Culper Ring.)

Hercules Mulligan once saved the life of the Commander-in-Chief right in the nick of time. In the year 1780, the British had discovered the location and time where General Washington and several other leading American generals would meet to discuss their plans for the next campaign in the war. The British planned to sabotage the American generals and hang Washington. One of the British officers responsible for carrying out this scheme paid Mulligan’s cloth shop a midnight visit to order a suit that he needed for the expedition. When Mulligan demanded to know why he was so abruptly awoken in the middle of the night in a rush, the officer replied, “We will have that rebel General in our hands by tomorrow.” Hercules knew that that meant trouble, and dispatched his loyal patriotic slave Cato to Washington’s headquarters to warn the General of the impending emergency. Alexander Hamilton, who was now a lieutenant-colonel and an aide-de-camp of General Washington, was responsible to receive intelligence from Mulligan, and at the sight of Cato, Hamilton knew immediately that Mulligan had a piece of important information for General Washington. As the rest of history indicates, Washington and his generals changed their plans and happily avoided capture.

Washington would remember Mulligan’s deed well. After the Revolutionary War was over, Washington traveled to New York City where he said (what became) a temporary “farewell” to his “brother officers.” But the first thing Washington did when he entered the City was seeking out the house of Hercules Mulligan, with whom he had breakfast. During Washington’s presidency several years later, the business tables of Hercules Mulligan changed. No longer did he have to hide his patriotism and sell fine fabric to British officers — now President Washington patronized Mulligan’s shop!

Hercules Mulligan is an example of staunch patriotism and bravery. Though his name is not as well known or as legendary as the names of Paul Revere or Nathan Hale (who, too, were brave and uncompromising Patriots), Mulligan played just as important roles in the progress and success of the American Revolution.
America (and New York ) needs more “Hercules Mulligans”!

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