Having been sent to the hospital at Washington, he remained only ten days, and then resumed his command. He was engaged in the fight at North Anna and on the Pamunkey River, May 28, 30 and 31, 1864. At the battle of Topotomy Creek he was dangerously wounded by a musket ball through the groin.
He commanded his brigade in all the actions around Petersburg until the end of the war. He particularly distinguished himself during this time by storming a rebel fort in front of his brigade, and for this he was brevetted major general October 27, 1864.
When, in 1868, Daniel M. Fox was elected Mayor he called to his aid as chief of police General Mulholland, and it was due to the discipline which the latter inculcated that the force, before that time in some disorder, was brought to a fine condition.
After the election of President Cleveland General Mulholland was appointed pension agent at Philadelphia, a position he held continuously since 1894.
The activities of General Mulholland covered a large field, and he was known all over the State. As a speaker at Grand Army celebrations and in educational institutions he was always welcomed, and his vivid descriptions of events in war times were listened to with interest.
For many years he was a member of the Board of Prison Inspectors, and it is said of him that he personally helped more unfortunates to start life anew than any other man in the State. He made the subject of prison discipline and its reform a study, and it was he who formed the committee that drafted the new parole law, as presented in the Legislature by Senator Ernst L. Tustin.
He was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Loyal Legion, life member of the American-Irish Historical Society, Medal of Honor Legion and Friendly Sons of St. Patrick (of which he was president from 1892 to 1894). He was chairman of the committee of the Friendly Sons which had charge of the erection of the Barry monument in Independence Square, and at the time of his death chairman of the commission appointed by Governor Stuart to provide for the erection of the monument to the Pennsylvania soldiers participating in the battle of Gettysburg. He was a former president of the Catholic Alumni Sodality, and at the time of his death, as chairman of a committee of the sodality, was working to raise funds for the erection of a monument to Rev. William Corby, chaplain of the Irish Brigade, showing Father Corby in the act of administering absolution to the soldiers about to enter into battle at Gettysburg.
Himself an artist in water colors, General Mulholland during his trips abroad gathered many valuable paintings, which form a collection of worth at his home.
General Mulholland was twice married. His first wife was Mary Dooner, sister of the late Peter S. Dooner. His second wife was Mary Heenan, daughter of Colonel Heenan and sister of Dr. Thomas E. Heenan, now United States Consul at Warsaw, Russia. The daughters of the deceased are: Mrs. Ludwig E. Faber, Mrs. Joseph I. Comber, Miss Mary Mulholland, Miss Genevieve Mulholland, Miss Claire Mulholland.
General Mulholland was a brother of the late Rev. James E. Mulholland, rector of St. Patrick’s Church, who died suddenly in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1886.