He was the grandfather of World War II General George S. Patton.

George Smith Patton was born June 26, 1833, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and raised in Richmond.

When the American Civil War broke out, he served in the 22nd Virginia Infantry of the Confederate States of America, rising from captain to colonel of the regiment.

As lieutenant colonel he was wounded in the shoulder at the Battle of Scary Creek in present-day West Virginia on July 17, 1861.

His home Elmgrove is now called the Craik-Patton House partly in his honor.