Marsena Rudolph Patrick (March 15, 1811 – July 27, 1888) was a college president and an officer in the United States Army, serving as a general in the Union volunteer forces during the American Civil War.

For a time, he was president of the Sackett's Harbor and Ellisburgh Railroad,[1] as well as becoming an expert farmer, studying and using the latest scientific advances to prosper.

Gen. Rufus King in the army of Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell and sent to the Shenandoah Valley in northern Virginia, where Patrick's men occasionally fought against Confederates under Stonewall Jackson.

New army commander Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker had Patrick create the Bureau of Military Information, a network of intelligence agents.

In early 1864, when Ulysses S. Grant arrived in the Eastern Theater and assumed authority over multiple armies, Patrick was elevated to provost marshal for the combined forces operating against Richmond, Virginia.

During scenes depicting the Battle of Fredericksburg, he is seen berating soldiers looting the town, and ordering his guard to put a stop to the vandalism.