Robert Patterson was an Irish-born American military officer who served as a United States Army major general during the Mexican–American War, and a Union Army major general during the American Civil War. During the Mexican-American War, he served as second in command to Winfield Scott and fought at the Siege of Veracruz and the Battle of Cerro Gordo.

The Battle of Hoke's Run, also known as the Battle of Falling Waters or Battle of Hainesville, took place on July 2, 1861, in Berkeley County, Virginia as part of the Manassas campaign of the American Civil War. Notable as an early engagement of Confederate Colonel Thomas J. Jackson and his Brigade of Virginia Volunteers, nineteen days before their famous nickname would originate, this brief skirmish was hailed by both sides as a stern lesson to the other. Acting precisely upon the orders of a superior officer about how to operate in the face of superior numbers, Jackson's forces resisted General Robert Patterson's Union forces briefly and then slowly retreated over several miles.