Thomas H. Patterson

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Rear Admiral Thomas Harmon Patterson (born 10 May 1820, New Orleans, Louisiana, died 9 April 1889 Washington, D.C.) served in the United States Navy. He was the second son of War of 1812 Naval hero Capt. Daniel Patterson (Daniel Todd Patterson), brother of Navy lieutenant Carlile Pollock Patterson and of George Ann Patterson who married Civil War Naval hero Admiral David Dixon Porter. Thomas Harmon Patterson saw action in the American Civil War and later served as the Commander, Asiatic Squadron. While in this latter post, he participated in the lengthy 1879 visit of former President and General Ulysses S. Grant to Japan at the conclusion of Grant's around-the-world tour that started in 1878. Adm. T.H. Patterson appears frequently in volume 2 of John Russell Young's chronicle "Around the World with General Grant," beginning at page 519 of the unabridged edition (end of chapter XLI) through page 613 (end of chapter XLIV). Grant's obviously admiring and respectful attitude towards Japanese culture, and his several personal audiences with the Emperor Meiji, did much to establish friendly relations between the US and Japan in the 1880s, as Japan entered into a period of rapid modernization. The major motion picture The Last Samurai, starring Tom Cruise, is set in Japan at the time of the 1877 Satsuma Rebellion, almost exactly the time Patterson assumed command of all US Naval forces in and around Japan and China, and two years before Grant's visit.

Patterson's commands included Chocura, Currituck and James Adger. Richmond served as his flagship on the Asiatic Squadron. For the three years, 1873-1876, prior to assuming command of that squadron, he commanded the Washington Navy Yard, as his father had done (1836-1839) 40 years before. He was elected January 2, 1868, a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.

Patterson was married to Maria Montresor Wainwright, daughter of a Colonel in the Marine Corps, Robert Dewer Wainwright (brevet Lt. Col., 3 Mar. 1827; died 5 Oct. 1841). Several of their sons also became military officers, including Capt. Samuel Achmuty Wainwright Patterson, USN, who commanded the Great White Fleet battleship USS Kentucky (BB-6) in 1905 (but did not command during the 1907-1909 world cruise). He retired from the Navy in 1883 and died in 1889. He is buried in the Wainwright vault of Congressional Cemetery, Washington D.C., with his wife, his father-in-law, and other Wainwright relatives. His father, Commodore Daniel Patterson, and mother, are also buried in Congressional Cemetery but under a separate Patterson monument.

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This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.