The Patriot: Fact or Fiction----Events
Benjamin Martin's raid on Fort Wilderness:
Throughout the film beginning in the opening narration, references are made to Benjamin
Martin's actions in the French and Indian War from his opening narration to the South
Carolina Assembly to Major Jean Villeneuve's angry responses to Martin's authority.
Benjamin refused to answer his son Thomas when questioned about it. Later in the film,
Benjamin is finally ready to tell Gabriel what happened at Fort Wilderness: "The French and
Cherokee had raided along the Blue Ridge. The English settlers had sought refuge at Fort
Charles. By the time we got there, the fort was abandoned. They'd left about a week
before. But what we found was... They'd killed all the settlers, the men. With the women
and some of the children they had... We buried them all, what was left of them. We caught
up with them at Fort Wilderness. We took our time. We cut them apart slowly, piece by
piece. I can see their faces. I can still hear their screams, all but two. We let them live. We
placed the heads on a pallet and sent them back with the two that lived to Fort Ambercon.
The eyes, tongues, fingers, we put in baskets; sent them down the Asheulot to the
Cherokee. Soon after, the Cherokee broke their treaty with the French. That's how we
justified it. We were heroes."
FICTIONS:
1. the only Fort Wilderness to have existed is at Disney World.
2. Fort Charles is actually in Port Royal, Kingston, Jamaica.
3. Fort Ambercon never existed.
4. The Asheulot River is in New Hampshire.
FACTS: In 1759, tensions between the British and their Cherokee Indian allies boiled over
and the Indians began attacking frontier settlements in the Blue Ridge region of Virginia
and in the Carolinas. In early 1760, they began a siege of Fort Loudoun (located in what is
now Tennessee), which ended in a massacre of British soldiers when the British did not keep
the agreed terms of surrender. The South Carolina militia responded with a campaign in
which Francis Marion participated. They mainly destroyed Indian villages and burned crops
to starve the Cherokees into surrendering.
Benjamin Martin's statement, "Why should I agree to swap one tyrant three
thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants one mile away?" : In his efforts to
protect his family by discouraging open rebellion against England, Benjamin Martin makes
the statement before the South Carolina Assembly
FICTIONS:
1. The quote was not made by a politician or in South Carolina.
FACTS:
The original quote is: "Which is better - to be ruled by one tyrant three thousand miles
away or by three thousand tyrants one mile away?” It was made by Boston Loyalist
Clergyman Byles Mather. Because of his Loyalist leanings, he was dismissed from his post
as minister of Hollis St. Congregational Church following the British Evacuation of Boston
in 1776. His uncle was Cotton Mather.
Colonel Tavington burns a militia leader's home and kills his son: Skirmishing
between British and Continental soldiers spills onto Benjamin Martin's farm. The next day
he helps care for the wounded from both sides. When a British Lieutenant arrives leading
a patrol, he thanks Benjamin for his efforts.
However, when Colonel William Tavington and his cavalry rides up, he orders the
Continental wounded shot, Gabriel Martin arrested and taken to Camden to be hung as a
spy and the Martin home burned. Thomas Martin then attempted to help Gabriel escape,
but is killed by Tavington. After the British leave, Benjamin takes his sons Nathan and
Samuel and rescues Gabriel by wiping out the British patrol escorting him.
FICTIONS:
1. Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton (inspiration for Colonel Tavington) never shot a militia
leader's son in the back.
2. A Southern militia leader never carried out a daring raid with only his two sons on an
entire British patrol of twenty men.
FACTS:
Lt. Colonel Tarleton did burn the home of Thomas Sumter (an inspiration for Benjamin
Martin). Unlike Martin, Sumter had been fighting with the militia earlier in the war, but
when fighting quieted down, Sumter resigned his commission and stayed out of the war.
When area militia carried out raids on British and Loyalist interests, Sumter was suspected
and Tarleton was sent to arrest him. Sumter was warned and he went into hiding. When
Tarleton found Sumter had gotten away, he still burned Sumter's home, bringing a chair out
and forcing Sumter's wife to watch. However, he did not harm Sumter's son. Because of the
British actions against his family, Sumter rejoined the war. In May 1780, Andrew Pickens
was captured at Charleston. He was paroled and released, but later on Tory (locals loyal to
the British) raiders destroyed much of his property and frightened his family. Following the
incident, Pickens informed the British that they had broken the terms of his parole to leave
him and his family alone and he would take up arms against them again.
The "Betsy Ross" flag was widely used as a battle flag: During each of the film's
battles and as a subplot with Gabriel, the now familiar Betsy Ross flag is the only American
flag that is evident.
FICTIONS: Unlike in the movie, where the Betsy Ross flag is the only one carried by Patriot
forces, there was no standard issue flag used throughout the Continental Army and Patriot
militia. Most battle flags showed symbols and slogans that were familiar to the region from
which that regiment originated.
MYTHS: In 1776, General George Washington supposedly paid a visit to Betsy Ross and
asked her to design a flag based on a red, white and blue theme and the "Betsy Ross" flag
soon appeared. This part of the legend has not been substantiated by historians.
FACTS: On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress officially adopted "that the flag of
the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen
stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation." Even after this, there were
wide variations among flags based on the official theme, such as different patterns for the
stars or vertical stripes. During the transition in Charleston the British Union Jack replaces
another flag. This flag may have been a state flag or other such flag, but in this case, the
filmmakers did not go for again using the Betsy Ross flag.
The Continental Congress offered freedom to slaves who served: While the militia is
in Pembroke loading supplies, Occam stares at the posted announcements. When Dan
Scott asks him about what they say, Occam answers that he can't read, so Scott offered to
read it for him. Scott then reads an announcement stating that any slaves that serve twelve
months in the Continental Army will be given their freedom and also paid five shillings per
month served.
FICTIONS: The Continental Congress never extended such an offer. On the contrary,
General George Washington during the first few years of the war issued specific orders
that slaves not be inducted in the army.
FACTS: - Some states did extend such offers. In 1774, New York offered freedom to slaves
who served in the militia for three years. To add needed men and to counteract successful
offers from the British, the Continental Congress did make various suggestions to the
colonies to recruit slaves even offering to pay slave-owners off and free the slaves, but
these were opposed.
- The Northern colonies readily included free blacks, but the Southern colonies refused.
- Even though General Washington had issued orders that slaves not be inducted, many
slaves did serve when their masters were called for duty. Because the number of men was
so few, recruiters did not press the issue and allowed the slaves in.
- The British successfully encouraged desertions with their offers of freedom. Before the
British evacuated New York City in 1783, they freed all slaves.
Colonel Tavington burns down a church with the townspeople inside:
Colonel William Tavington orders the townspeople of Pembroke into the church. He then
demands to know if anyone aids Benjamin Martin and his militia. When one man breaks
down and points out Peter Howard as a Patriot supporter, Tavington thanks him and then
orders the church locked up with the townspeople inside. Tavington then orders Loyalist
Captain Wilkins to burn the church.
FICTION: Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton (inspiration for Colonel Tavington) never
massacred the population of an entire town.
FACTS: The only massacre that Lt. Colonel Tarleton was involved in was the controversial
Buford's Massacre at Waxhaw’s, which began as a military engagement and did not
involve civilians. Patriots claimed that the Continental force attempted to surrender, but
Tarleton and his men rode them down and massacred them. Whether true or not, following
Waxhaw’s Tarleton gained his reputation as giving no quarter or mercy. As far as a church
burning massacre, there is no record of one taking place during the Revolutionary War. The
most famous case of such an event took place in Oradour, France on June 10, 1944. Nazi
SS soldiers herded the town's entire population of women and children into the church and
burned the church down. The men were taken to another town building and shot. The SS
spent several hours carrying out their destruction of the town. Individual atrocities, such as
people being burned alive in their homes, did happen during the Revolutionary War and
were carried out by both sides as well as outlaws who used the war as a cover for criminal
acts or revenge, but there is no evidence that Lt. Colonel Tarleton ordered the massacre of
women and children.
Benjamin Martin comes up with a strategy of using militia as a decoy: General
Nathanael Greene acknowledges that a large part of his force is militia, but he does not
trust the militia to stand its ground. Militia has a long history of running as the battle begins
from the British Occupation of New York in 1776 to the Battle of Camden. In response
to General Greene's comments, Benjamin Martin suggested that they use that tendency
against the British.
FICTIONS: 1. Nathanael Greene was not present at a battle using the strategy of a militia
decoy. 2. Charles Cornwallis was not present at a battle where a militia decoy successfully
draws him in.
FACTS: The strategy of using militia as a decoy was used during this time. Brig. General
Daniel Morgan after speaking with his experienced officers and militia commanders
conceived of using the strategy against the inexperienced and impulsive Lt. Colonel
Banastre Tarleton who was in pursuit of Morgan. General Morgan asked two shots of his
militia before they retreated. At the Battle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781, Morgan used
the strategy. When Lt. Colonel Tarleton saw the retreating militia, he believed another
British rout was on. Ignoring the advice of his experienced officers and not even waiting
until his entire force had marched onto the field, he ordered a charge which left his force
double-flanked and then virtually destroyed.
General Cornwallis sent his deputy to surrender at Yorktown: In the film's closing
narration, Benjamin Martin tells that the French arrived and General Charles Cornwallis
was trapped at Yorktown and forced to surrender. He was so humiliated that he sent his
second-in-command General Charles O'Hara to officially surrender to General George
Washington.
FACTS: On October 20, 1781, at the surrender ceremony at Yorktown, Virginia, General
Cornwallis claimed illness and sent his second-in-command, Brig. General Charles O'Hara as
his representative, while Cornwallis remained out of sight in the fort. General O'Hara first
attempted to present his sword to French General Rochambeau rather than surrender to the
Americans, but Rochambeau refused and directed O'Hara to General Washington. When
O'Hara then offered his sword to Washington, Washington directed O'Hara to HIS second-in-
command, Brig. General Benjamin Lincoln. In addition to General Washington's gesture
as a return insult to the British for Cornwallis' absence and then trying to surrender to the
French, his choice of Lincoln had further significance. General Lincoln had been the
commanding officer at Charleston, South Carolina in May 1780, when he had been forced
to surrender to British Commander in America Lt. General Sir Henry Clinton while
General Cornwallis served as his second-in-command.