The Patriot Movie Analysis

Movies don’t always portait characters correctly. For the most part, the characters will have important details in their life taken out for the sake of entertainment. The Patriot, while an amazing movie, did have a few major inaccuracies. Benjamin Martin, William Tavington, and Jean Villeneuve were all based off of real people from the war. While they were portrait pretty accurately, there were some major differences between the movie and real life.

Obviously, there were a few slight differences between hollywood, Ben Martin and actual person, Francis Marion. For one, Francis Marion did not have kids. In fact, he didn’t even marry til after the war. So the whole piece about his son's dying and him wanting to avenge their death did not actually happen. Marion was cautious and prudent in

his military tactics unlike Ben Martin who was bold. He was eccentric and unable to get along with his fellow military officers. Marion was known as the “Swamp Fox”. His base of operations was Snow’s Island, which is in the middle of the South Carolina Swamps. Another difference was that, in the movie, Martins militia was made up of mostly white people and one black slave. In reality, Marion's militia was made up of whites, blacks, both free and enslaved, and a few Native Americans. Undoubtedly, Marion was a courageous and deadly soldier, whose guerilla warfare techniques severely crippled British campaigns in the South, and helped to ensure victory for America.
Colonel William Tavington was suppose to represent Colonel Banastre Tarleton in the movie.

Unfortunately, the movie did not portrait Tarleton very accurately. Of course there were a few similarities. For example, like the movie, General Cornwallis did send Colonel Banastre Tarleton after Marion and, like the movie, Tarleton was unable to capture him. For the most part, Travington was used as an antagonist and helped develop the plot. One major difference between the movie and the real person is that Tarleton is not killed in the war. And he is certainly not killed by Marion at the end of a huge battle. Tarleton was, without a doubt, a strong officer and was feared by many much like the movie.

“The Patriot”, while is a very good and entertaining movie, is still a movie and might not always portait a character correctly. Jean Villeneuve was loosely based off of a combination between Marquis de Lafayette and Baron von Steuben. Lafayette never fought in the South but did have few run ins with General Cornwallis. In fact, he helped keep Cornwallis army pinned at Yorktown. Baron von Steuben was at Valley Forge in the winter of 1778 and trained General George Washington's Continental

forces.
Benjamin Martin, William Tavington, and Jean Villeneuve were all based off of real people from the war. While they were portrait pretty accurately, there were some major differences between the movie and real life.