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But historians generally agree that the rebels probably violated the rules of war more often than the British. Francis Marion, who led a band of militiamen in South Carolina (and whom Gibson's character most closely resembles), ordered his men to fire upon a group of British regulars and American Tories who had surrendered. A witness described it thus: "Numerous Tories died with their hands in the air."

In 1778, Georgia militiamen captured, stripped, and killed British Lt. John Kemp along with nine of his men for refusing to renounce the king. And the term "lynching" comes from Col. Charles Lynch of Virginia, who became famous for extra-legal executions of Tory sympathizers.

The church-burning scene in The Patriot is actually based on an incident from World War II, when Nazi soldiers burned a group of French villagers alive. There is no evidence that a similar event took place during the American Revolution.

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Wow. Thank you for that. I knew there were innaccuracies that could be linked to Gibson being less than honest in his portrayal of the Brits.