Born January 1, 1968, at Fort Belvoir, VA, Patrick grew up in Utica, NY, until moving to Virginia at age 13.  He attended Stuarts Draft High School in Augusta County, VA. In the spring of 1990, he graduated Cum Laude with a B.S. in Historical Park Administration from Shepherd College, Shepherdstown, WV.  He has a M.A. in Civil War History from Virginia Tech.  From the summer of 1986-1993, Patrick worked as a seasonal living history interpreter at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park.  In 1993, he wrote Thirty Myths About Lee’s Surrender, which is currently in its fifteenth printing. Patrick has written, edited and/or contributed to more than twenty-five Civil War titles. From 1994–1999, he worked at Red Hill, the Patrick Henry National Memorial. He resides in Lynchburg, VA, and has worked as an independent researcher, author, historian, and tour guide.  He has served as the Historian at Appomattox Court House National Historical Park since 2002.  Always an advocate for battlefield preservation, he has supported groups such as the American Battlefield Trust with research, tours signage, and battlefield land analysis. In an effort to protect sites relevant to the Appomattox Campaign, Patrick has joined the board of the Appomattox-Petersburg Preservation Society to save land important to the climatic events of April 1865.