Courtesy of the U.S. House of Representatives:
Representative from Iowa; born in Sabina, Clinton County, Ohio, May 1, 1841; moved with his parents to Iowa in 1849; attended the public schools, Indiana Asbury (now De Pauw) University, Greencastle, Ind., and Iowa Wesleyan College at Mount Pleasant; was graduated from the Cincinnati (Ohio) Law School in the spring of 1862; was admitted to the bar the same year and commenced practice in Des Moines, Iowa; during the Civil War enlisted in the Twenty-third Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry, in July 1862; first lieutenant and captain; resigned on account of wounds in October 1863; secretary of the Iowa senate in 1872 and reelected in 1874, 1876, and 1878; secretary of state in 1878 and reelected in 1880 and 1882; Lieutenant Governor in 1885 and reelected in 1887; engaged in agricultural pursuits and banking; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-second and to the nine succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1891-March 3, 1911); chairman, Committee on Military Affairs (Fifty-fourth through Sixty-first Congresses); unsuccessful candidate for renomination; resumed the practice of law in Washington, D.C.; retired in 1916 and died in Clarendon, Arlington County, Va., September 26, 1928; interment in Arlington National Cemetery.
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard