Robert J. Patterson's Medal of Honor for 45th Pennsylvania

Jan 28 , 2026

Robert J. Patterson's Medal of Honor for 45th Pennsylvania

The air tore with musket fire. Blood and smoke swallowed the ridge. Amid falling comrades, Sergeant Robert J. Patterson stood unfaltering. The Union line buckled under Confederate assault near Petersburg, Virginia, in June 1864—but Patterson’s grit held the salvation for his regiment.

Forged in Faith and Iron

Born in 1838, Patterson hailed from a modest Pennsylvania farm. Baptized young, he carried his mother’s words like armor: “Stand for what’s right, even if you stand alone.” That faith, steady and simple, forged his code amid chaos.

Before the war, he was a blacksmith—iron bent but never broken. Each strike of the hammer taught patience and strength. His hands grew calloused, his resolve hardened. When war came, those hands learned the rifle. His heart clung tight to scripture:

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” — Joshua 1:9

The Battle That Defined Him

June 17, 1864. The Siege of Petersburg dragged into its bloody second month. Patterson’s regiment, the 45th Pennsylvania Infantry, held a critical line atop a vulnerable ridge.

Confederate sharpshooters rained death, and then came the infantry assault—waves crashing with powder and steel. The Union flank started to shatter, panic spreading fast.

Facing the abyss, Sergeant Patterson did the unfathomable. He seized a fallen standard and rallied the men around it. Under direct cannon fire, he charged forward, pushing back enemies swarming their line. Twice wounded, Patterson refused to yield, dragging the colors as a battle beacon.

His voice rose above the roar: “Hold fast—stand firm!”

That rally turned the tide for the 45th, preventing a collapse that could have bled the entire corps dry.

The Medal of Honor

Congress awarded Patterson the Medal of Honor in 1897 [1], decades later but no less deserved. The citation reads:

“For extraordinary heroism on June 17, 1864, near Petersburg, VA, while serving with Company B, 45th Pennsylvania Infantry. Sergeant Patterson seized the flag after the color bearer fell and, with conspicuous gallantry under heavy fire, led his regiment in repelling a fierce enemy assault.”

Commanders remembered him not just for bravery but unyielding heart. Colonel Samuel G. Wright called him:

“A warrior whose courage lifted all, even when death lay close.” [2]

Comrades described him as “a man who wore scars not as wounds but as medals of service.”

Lessons Etched in Blood and Honor

Patterson’s story is not just about valor on the battlefield. It’s about what it means to stand when everything screams to fall.

He showed us that courage is not the absence of fear—it is the decision to act despite it. That honor means sacrifice, sometimes laying down the safety of self to save many. That legacy passed down through wounds and medals is the quieter triumph of the human soul.

The 45th carried his memory forward—not just a name on a roster, but a symbol that even when lines break, a few steadfast souls can hold the day.

In our darkest hours, Patterson’s faith and grit remind us:

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” — John 15:13

The dust of that field remains mixed with his blood and prayers. We owe more than remembrance—we owe resolve. To endure. To fight for what’s right. To rise each dawn and face the storm with a warrior’s heart.

Robert J. Patterson’s silent march through fire still speaks. The call to stand fast echoes beyond battlefields, demanding from us all the courage to carry on.

Sources

[1] United States Army Center of Military History — Medal of Honor Recipients (Civil War) [2] History of the Forty-Fifth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry by Thomas J. McKee, 1904