what are the historical innacuracies/fiction in the movie "The Patriot"?

Answer 1

Colonel Tavington is loosely based on Col. Banastre Tarleton, but not nearly as cold-hearted and evil as portrayed in the film

Answer 2

Boots were not made differently for left and right until the 1800's. This is a common inaccuracy in many period piece movies.

Modern snare drums are in use during marching scenes.

When the British are planning to hang the men from the militia, they are using a type of trap-door gallows that was not in use until well after the war was over.

Only 12 Americans were actually killed during the final battle of the war, not the hundreds shown in the movie.

During the late 1770's, a young, unmarried couple would never have openly kissed in public like that.

Great Danes were known as Boar Hounds at that time, and would not have been called Great Danes.

The Ohio territory (where Tavington says he will go after the war) was not called Ohio at the time.

There are lots of continuity errors, but they are not historical innaccuracies, just regular goofs.

Answer 3

The film has been heavily criticized for its historical inaccuracies, including the invention or exaggeration of British atrocities. Most criticized was a scene depicting the torching of a church containing a town's inhabitants. Braveheart, another film featuring Gibson against English troops, has also been criticized on historical terms.

Although it went generally unnoticed by casual audiences, historians also criticized the depiction of American-owned slaves being freed to serve in the Continental Army. It was actually the Dunmore Proclamation made by the British Army which first announced conditional freedom to slaves who joined them, a fact which is acknowledged by the film when Colonel Tavington tells blacks working for Martin that slaves who fight for "The Crown" will be granted their freedom upon an English victory. The new American government would maintain legalized chattel slavery until the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified in 1865. Although it is true that Blacks fought on both sides in the Revolution, the South Carolina assembly resolutely refused to allow blacks--either slave or free--into the state militia, contrary to what one sees in this film. Here Martin is no slaveholder, but a farmer who employs black workers for a salary, a labor relationship that simply did not exist in colonial South Carolina.

The movie implied at several points that the Revolution also aimed to free all black slaves. Most Revolutionary War historians, including Timothy Shannon of Gettysburg College, criticized the film's portrayal of the overall relationship between slaves and American slaveowners as being too frinot occur.

There are also characters that are historically misplaced, such as the inclusion of British General Cornwallis at the final battle, which is allegedly based on the Battle of Cowpens. Benjamin Martin is a combination of Thomas Sumter, Andrew Pickens, Brig. Gen. Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion and Col. Daniel Morgan, whose strategy for the Battle of Cowpens Emmerich imitates in the climax. Col. William Tavington is based on General Sir Banastre "Bloody Banny" Tarleton.

Historical accuracy
The ending incorporates the Siege of Yorktown, where Cornwallis surrendered to the colonists and their French allies; it incorporates key factual elements from that campaign, especially the French naval victory in the Battle of the Chesapeake which directly led to the colonists' victory at Yorktown.

It also accurately depicts Generals Washington and Rochambeau, in addition to Cornwallis, as being present at the siege; though none of them participated in the surrender ceremony itself, that is a common mistake found in many portrayals of Yorktown, including paintings of the day.

The fictional French general in the film, Jean Villeneuve, was loosely based on Lafayette; though the real Lafayette fought with Washington in the North (unlike Villeneuve), Villeneuve's penchant for self-promotion is consistent with historical accounts of Lafayette. The change of Martin's group from disdain to respect for Villeneuve, after Admiral de Grasse finally delivered on Villeneuve's constant promises of French help, is probably more of a commentary on the history of U.S.-French relations than historical fact; but that is appropriate considering that most of the leading characters (except for Cornwallis) are fictional.

Answer 4

The British were tough with the colonists but they never corralled the towns people, including, women and children, into a church to set it on fire.

Answer 5

Mel Gibson was in the war.

Answer 6

the war wasnt even close to relying alot on one man.