The Patriot (2000 Film) - Historical Authenticity

Historical Authenticity

During the development of the film, producer-director Roland Emmerich and his team consulted with experts at the Smithsonian Institution on set, props, and costumes; advisor Rex Ellis even recommended the Gullah village as an appropriate place for Martin's family to hide. In addition, screenwriter Robert Rodat read through many journals and letters of colonists as part of his preparation for writing the screen play.

The Patriot's producer, Mark Gordon, said that in making the film, "while we were telling a fictional story, the backdrop was serious history". Some of the resulting characters and events thus were composites of real characters and events that were designed to serve the fictional narrative without losing the historical flavor. The film's screenwriter, Robert Rodat, said of Mel Gibson's character: "Benjamin Martin is a composite character made up of Thomas Sumter, Daniel Morgan, Andrew Pickens, and Francis Marion, and a few bits and pieces from a number of other characters". Rodat also indicated that the fictional Colonel William Tavington is "loosely based on Colonel Banastre Tarleton, who was particularly known for his brutal acts"

Some events, such as Tarleton's actual pursuit of Francis Marion and his fellow irregular soldiers who escaped by disappearing into the swamps of South Carolina, found their way into the film directly while others were adapted, such as the final battle in the film which combined elements of the Battles of Cowpens and Guilford Court House, with Cornwallis' order to fire the cannon on friend and foe alike an accurate depiction of the events at the Battle of Guilford Court House.