Hercules Mooney

Who was Hercules Mooney?

Hercules Mooney was an Irish-born veteran of the French and Indian and American Revolutionary wars.

Born to a Protestant family, in 1733 he emigrated to the United States and settled in Dover, New Hampshire. In 1738 he married Elizabeth Evans, also of Dover. Having been a tutor back in Ireland, Mooney became a teacher and schoolmaster at Dover and after 1750 in Durham.

In 1757 Mooney joined the New Hampshire Provincial Regiment to fight in the French and Indian War as a captain in command of a company of soldiers. Capt. Mooney was at the Siege of Fort William Henry that ended in the fall of the fort and attack by the Indians. After the end of the war Mooney returned to Durham to teach and was elected selectman in 1765.

In 1775 he was a delegate to the provincial congress at Exeter, New Hampshire and in 1776 was appointed lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army. Lt. Col. Mooney served in Col. Pierse Long's regiment and fought at the Battle of Fort Anne during the Saratoga campaign. During 1778 and 1779 Col. Mooney served on New Hampshire's Committee of Safety.