Robert J. Patterson Carried the Colors at Third Battle of Winchester

Feb 05 , 2026

Robert J. Patterson Carried the Colors at Third Battle of Winchester

Blood and fire tore through the smoke-choked field. Men fell like wheat beneath a scythe, chaos reigning where once steadiness held. Amid this hell, a lone figure claves the line—holding back the tide as brother after brother faltered. Robert J. Patterson did not flinch.

Roots of Resolve

Born in 1843 in Pennsylvania, Patterson was forged in the steel of humble beginnings. Raised on hard labor and stern faith, his early years whispered a simple creed: duty to something greater than self. The son of a devout family, he carried that quiet conviction into the storm—believing, as Psalm 23 declares, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil”.

The Civil War seized young men with its brutal call. Patterson enlisted early with the 90th Pennsylvania Infantry. He was not a man of grand speeches, but of steady hands and a steady heart. His faith was not sentimental—it was battle-tested, a shield as much as his muskets and bayonets.

The Battle That Defined Him

September 19, 1864. The Battle of Opequon, also known as the Third Battle of Winchester, Virginia. A pivotal clash in the Shenandoah Valley. Union forces clashed with the Confederates in a hellacious assault, artillery pounding the earth, men screaming orders and dying alike.

The 90th Pennsylvania Infantry, locked in the fight, wavered under relentless enemy fire. It was then Sergeant Robert J. Patterson saw his chance. Under a storm of bullets and shell fragments, he rallied the shattered remnants of his regiment.

Patterson seized the regimental colors. The flag—life and spirit made cloth—had fallen. Without hesitation, he plucked it from the dust. He advanced alone, becoming the living symbol of resistance.

Enemy fire swirled; men downed by the dozen. But Patterson bore the flag forward, calling out to faltering comrades. His courage was a beacon in the tempest. He restored order, reformed the line, and halted the Confederate advance just long enough for reinforcements to surge.

This one act—carrying the colors amid carnage—did more than save his regiment. It set the course for victory that day.

Medal of Honor: Words from the Valor Register

For his extraordinary gallantry, Patterson received the Medal of Honor, awarded decades later in 1892. His citation reads:

"For extraordinary heroism on 19 September 1864, in action at Opequon Battlefield, Winchester, Virginia. Sergeant Patterson seized the colors of his regiment after the standard bearer had fallen, and amidst heavy enemy fire, advanced with the colors, rallying the regiment and helping to repulse the enemy."[^1]

Comrades remembered him as “the heart of the regiment.” Lieutenant Colonel George W. Alexander wrote in his after-action report that Patterson’s boldness “turned the tide of what could have been a tragic rout.”

The Legacy of a Standard Bearer

Robert J. Patterson’s story is not just etched in bronze medals or military archives. It lives in the raw truth of what binds warriors: the willingness to stand when everything screams to fall.

To carry a fallen man’s burden—the flag, the hope, the fight—is more than bravery. It is sacrifice incarnate. The bloodied battlefield is where faith proves itself; not in comfort, but in unyielding grit.

His life after war was quieter but no less devoted. Patterson remained a living testament to courage and redemption, reminding those around him that valor is more than violence—it is the sacred trust to hold the line, for comrades, for country.

“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” —1 Corinthians 16:13

The echoes of that September day in 1864 stretch far beyond the fields of Winchester. Robert J. Patterson did not just save a regiment—he preserved a legacy. The legacy of those who bear scars not to glorify war, but to guard peace. Those who hold fast when the darkness wants to swallow all hope.

His colors fly still, stitched in the fabric of sacrifice.

Sources

[^1]: U.S. War Department, Medal of Honor Recipients 1863–1994 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1994) [^2]: Earl J. Hess, The Battle of Winchester: Union Victory in the Shenandoah (University Press of Kansas, 1986) [^3]: George W. Alexander, After Action Report, 90th Pennsylvania Infantry, Official Records of the War of the Rebellion (1889)