| Thomas Harmon Patterson | |
| Office: | Commander of the Asiatic Squadron |
| Term Start: | August 12, 1877 |
| Term End: | September 11, 1880 |
| Successor: | John M. B. Clitz |
| Predecessor: | Jonathan Young |
| Birth Date: | 10 May 1820 |
| Birth Place: | New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Parents: | Daniel Todd Patterson George Ann Pollock Patterson |
| Allegiance: | United States of America Union |
| Branch: | United States Navy |
| Rank: | Rear admiral |
| Commands: | Chocura, Currituck, James Adger, Richmond |
Thomas Harmon Patterson (May 10, 1820 – April 9, 1889) was a rear admiral in the United States Navy.
Patterson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on May 10, 1820. He was the second son of Commodore Daniel Todd Patterson (1786–1839), a War of 1812 U.S. Navy hero, and George Ann (née Pollock) Patterson (1787–1851). Among his siblings were Carlile Pollock Patterson (superintendent of the United States Coast Survey); Eliza Catherine Patterson, who married George Mifflin Bache Sr. (brother of Alexander Dallas Bache), and George Ann Patterson, who married fellow Naval officer David Dixon Porter.
His maternal grandparents were George Pollock and Catherine (née Yates) Pollock and his paternal grandparents were John Patterson and Catherine (née Livingston) Patterson. His grandfather was the younger brother of Walter Patterson, the first British colonial Governor of Prince Edward Island. Through his paternal grandmother he was a great-grandson of Robert Livingston, the 3rd Lord of Livingston Manor.[1]
Patterson saw action in the American Civil War and later served as commander of the Asiatic Squadron (1877–1880). 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.
Patterson's commands included Chocura, Currituck and James Adger. Richmond served as his flagship in the Asiatic Squadron. From 1873 to 1876 he commanded the Washington Navy Yard, as his father had done in 1836–1839. On January 2, 1868, Patterson was elected as a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
Patterson retired from the U.S. Navy in 1883.[2]
On June 5, 1847, Patterson was married to Maria Montresor Wainwright (1823–1881). Maria was the daughter of U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Robert Dewar Wainwright and Maria Montresor (née Auchmuty) Wainwright, the sister of U.S. Naval officer Richard Wainwright, and cousin of Commander Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright. They were the parents of one daughter and three sons who survived to adulthood, including:[3]
After a long and painful illness,[5] Patterson died on April 9, 1889, at his residence, 2100 G Street in Washington, D.C.[6] His remains were interred in the Wainwright vault of Congressional Cemetery, with his wife, father-in-law, and other Wainwright relatives. His father and mother are also buried in Congressional Cemetery but under a separate Patterson monument.