Hercules Mulligan

Hercules Mulligan (1740–1825) was an Irish immigrant and New York-based textile importer and tailor. He owned a store in New York where British officers bought clothing and he was married to the daughter of a British admiral. A member of the Sons of Liberty and the New York Committees of Correspondence and Observation, Mulligan was a devoted and active patriot. During the American Revolution, Mulligan served as a patriot spy. His profession as a tailor allowed him to go “behind enemy lines” to discover British intelligence. He was loosely affiliated with the Culper Ring, a spy ring active in 1778.