[Maedhros]

The whole church inferno scene has no basis in history and was in fact adapted from Nazi atrocities. The main antagonist of the film was also a vilified to a ridiculous degree.

[XRdsRev]

The church scene was very inaccurate from a historical standpoint. That having been said, the evil figure in the movie was loosely based on the exploits of the English dragoon officer Banastre Tarleton whose exploits in the Carolina's and Virginia late in the War earned him a reputation for frequent use of excessive force and sometimes outright brutality toward soldiers and civilians.

He is widely recognized to be the most hated British officer of the American Revolution.

[skeeter]

The church scene was contrived, I agree. Atrocities against civilians with revolutionary leanings were usually left to the indians.

That notwithstanding I have no doubt that the movie's depiction of Gibson's British antagonist was pretty close to the real thing. See http://www.nps.gov/cowp/tarleton.htm

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

Emm, actually it did happen, not just once either.

[Poincare]

The whole church inferno scene has no basis in history and was in fact adapted from Nazi atrocities.

The British burned Irish in locked churches--that's history. As for the Nazi atrocities, you don't have to go further than Waco for a recent episode.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

In fact the British frequently tortured and killed Colonists. The families of the signers of the Declaration of Independence had to tolerate their families being executed, starved to death or worse. Are you familiar with this period of American history?

[rwfromkansas]

It is a patriotic movie. Got a problem with that?

It is a movie, not a historical textbook.