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Tarleton's worst crime was apparently executing surrendering soldiers.

However, at no time in the Revolution did any British force ever lock the citizens of a town in a church and burn it down, or anything close to that.

In the South (which was largely a Civil War between Patriots and Loyalists with relatively little British involvement till late in the war) there were a fair number of atrocities on both sides.

No movie can be entirely 100% accurate, but there's a responsibility of filmakers making a historical movie to at least not egregiously make things up. "The Patriot" completely ignored this responsibility with the church burning.

The other annoying thing is they made a big deal of hiring historical advisors and pretty much completely ignored everything they told them...regarding uniforms, flags, etc.

Just because people like the political slant of "The Patriot" doesn't mean its abuse of history can be ignored.

However, at no time in the Revolution did any British force ever lock the citizens of a town in a church and burn it down, or anything close to that.

I hated the movie. Seems to me they took the real--ideological/political--reasons for the war and replaced them with sappy, melodramatic reasons. Never mind liberty, republicanism, self-government or the abandonment of despotic rule, they fought cuz their feelings were real hurt and the bad guys were real mean.

However, at no time in the Revolution did any British force ever lock the citizens of a town in a church and burn it down, or anything close to that.

Hmmm.. well how about this then (from page 25 of The Life of Andrew Jackson: The Border Captain by Marque James): "A body of British dragoons moved on the Waxhaws to help the Tories, and Major Crawford gathered his squadron to resist. One of the points of assembly was the church. On April 9, 1781, the Jackson brothers and forty others were there when a group of mounted men in country dress was seen approaching by the road. A reenforcement under Captain Nesbit, thought the party at the church. When a few hundred yards away the screen of men without uniforms, who were Tories, turned aside and a company of dragoons with sabers drawn charged the meeting-house. Eleven of the forty men were captured and the church was set on fire. Andy dashed away by the side of his cousin, Leiutenant Thomas Crawford, with a dragoon at their heels."

Quite possibly this is the event which Gibson chose to portray.