Daniel Todd Patterson was born on March 6, 1786 in Long Island, Queens County, New York, United States. He was the son of John Patterson, former collector of customs at Philadelphia, and Catharine (Livingston) Patterson, great-grand-daughter of Robert Livingston.
On June 11, 1799, Daniel Todd Patterson joined the sloop Delaware as acting midshipman and sailed in her on two West Indian cruises during the naval war with France. He was warranted midshipman in August 1800, after his first cruise, and was one of the 159 midshipmen out of 352 retained in the peace establishment of May 1801. He carried on nautical studies till December. Until March 1803 he was in the Constellation of the second squadron sent against Tripoli. In May following he sailed again for the Mediterranean in the Philadelphia and was a prisoner for more than nineteen months after she was stranded and captured by the Tripolitans on October 31, 1803. Under the excellent tutelage of Capt. William Bainbridge and Lieut. David Porter, he was, however, enabled "to profit by the seeming misfortune". Upon his return he was stationed at New Orleans from January 1806 to June 1807.
In March 1808, after a visit to the North, and promotion to the rank of lieutenant, Daniel Todd Patterson returned to New Orleans where his friend Porter was in charge. From January 1810 to February 1811 he had a semi-independent command of twelve gunboats, that operated from a base at Natchez and transported most of the troops for the occupation of Baton Rouge in 1810. He was made master commandant on July 24, 1813, and from December following commanded the New Orleans station. Against the Gulf buccaneers his most effective stroke was delivered on September 16, 1814, when, raiding the base of the pirate Jean Laffite at Barataria Bay, Louisiana, with the schooner Carolina and six light gun vessels, he captured six schooners and other small craft. Although it was supported by twenty guns mounted on shore, Laffite's band, about 1, 000 strong, fled without resistance, much to Patterson's disappointment. He foresaw clearly the designs of the British against New Orleans in 1814 and indicated the best lines of defense.
On September 2, 1814, Daniel Todd Patterson refused Jackson's request to send his naval forces to Mobile, and maintained his position at New Orleans where the delay he caused the enemy by the gunboat action on Lake Borgne on December 15 greatly facilitated Jackson's final victory. He was aboard the Carolina during her very effective two-hour bombardment of the British camp on the evening of December 23, shouting at the first discharge, "Give them this for the honor of America". The Carolina was destroyed by enemy fire on December 27, but with his remaining vessel, the Louisiana, he continued to render valuable artillery service, and in the battle of January 8 he commanded a battery of naval guns on the west bank of the river. These had to be spiked and abandoned on the retreat of Morgan's militia but were repaired and ready for action next day. His excellent cooperation throughout the campaign has perhaps not been fully recognized, though he was highly commended by Jackson, received a vote of thanks from Congress, and was made captain on February 28, 1815.
A welcome change from the isolated southern station came finally in 1824 when Daniel Todd Patterson was appointed fleet captain and commander of the flagship Constitution in Commodore Rodgers' Mediterranean Squadron. Upon his return in 1828, partly no doubt as a warm friend and supporter of Jackson, he was given the important office of one of the three navy commissioners. Afterward he commanded the Mediterranean Squadron from 1832 to 1836. In negotiations to enforce claims against Naples for commercial injuries during the Napoleonic wars, his squadron gave effective support by entering the harbor at Naples one ship after another, until all six were assembled. His death occurred at the Washington navy yard on August 25, 1839, of which he was commandant, 1836 - 1839, and he was buried in the Congressional Cemetery.
Daniel Todd Patterson is described at this time as a "stout, compact, gallant-bearing man his manner slightly marked by hauteur".
Daniel Todd Patterson was married in 1807 to George Ann Pollock, the daughter of George Pollock of New Orleans. They had two sons, Carlile Pollock and Thomas Harman, and three daughters, one of whom, George Ann, was married in 1839 to David D. Porter.
