The content presented here is intended to inform, to educate, and even to entertain. Mel sets up on the hillside and asks his sons to target the officer first, then "work your way down." Hoping to deal the rebellion a fatal blow, Philadelphia, the capital of the colonies, had been captured in September 1777 but instead of capitulating, the rebel army reformed and continued to fight. Many elements made this an entertaining film. A widower and past war hero just wants to live in peace and farm his land -- until a cruel British officer brings the American Revolution to his door. The stronger focus on loose formations and using cover was forged throughout the French and Indian War, leading to the creation of the Light Infantry companies that were assigned to every British infantry regiment. It is only in this scene that the redcoats choose to not aim at the protagonist, and this is never explained. It supposedly takes place between the committment by the French to send troops and their actual arrival, which is brought to fruition at the end. I've often waded into this movie over at r/AskHistorians, and lord knows there's enough bad history in the 2000 film directed by Roland Emmerich to fill an entire volume. It's more likely that the director chose to make them look away to emphasize the idiocy of the British and their inability to withstand superior American tactics. It is a place to teach, to learn, and to collaborate and interact. At that, the bayonet was not meant to be a weapon used by a single individual against another single individual. After researching the main character, I realized he wasn't as heroic as the movie made him out to be, … But as you can see it is more inaccurate than it is accurate. please give websites and full detail!' Once the officer is dead, Mel Gibson runs around firing into the disorganized mob of redcoats, killing them one by one. Rebuked by his American superiors for failing to capture a British officer, he was villainized by the British with vitriolic language that emphasizes how unusual it was, particularly this early in the war, to target officers. Press J to jump to the feed. I'd love to look into this. The Americans were generally better at wilderness warfare, but that was hardly universal to all engagements, and does not equate to a bumbling and cartoonishly pathetic British army. If I tried to address its epic failures in depictions of slavery, wartime atrocity, the lack of loyalists, family dynamics, dress, and numerous other topics, I'd have to write an entire book. It's also been a while since I've seen The Patriot, but I seem to remember being repulsed by the way it treated the issue of slavery and generally annoyed by the way it marginalized the French contribution to the war by relegating it to one comically stereotypical character (though I admit I don't remember the time frame the movie takes place in, so it could have been before the French actually committed troops). The soldiers look away from their muskets as soon as they fire. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. The Patriot shared the same screenwriter as Saving Private Ryan, though I'm not aware of that being bad history other than trying to make the Germans look inept in the third act (/u/Nixon74 can explain better if he's on here). Light infantry companies could launch deadly strikes into unsuspecting Americans, or at least make an effort to counter the advantage of American riflemen and irregulars. Essay Example. Watch trailers & learn more. https://www.studymode.com/subjects/the-patriot-inaccuracies-page1.html It was largely not the case that Americans could just run around from tree to tree screaming like idiots and picking off redcoats who obediently stood around waiting to die. We use cookies on our websites for a number of purposes, including analytics and performance, functionality and advertising. American General Benedict Arnold specifically ordered that Fraser be killed, but saw it as a strategic necessity determined by the course of battle, rather than an outright and immediate recourse. https://www.thereloadersnetwork.com/2021/03/28/m855a1-accuracy-test The Patriot This film is believed to be very inaccurate by many critics but I would say that it is somewhat both accurate and inaccurate. There's a lot I left out, but this is definitely one of the more prominent ones. The Patriot script elected to gloss wer this aspect of Its protagonist’s life”. One of the most famous instances of an officer being specifically targeted by Americans is that of General Simon Fraser during the Saratoga campaign. You could issue whole bibles filled with inaccuracies in his entire filmography. It was preposterously bad, and something I may write about in the future. The British were tactically defeated by irregular strategies on occassion, such as Lexington and Concord or King's Mountain, but this was certainly not always the case. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. We may assume that, due to his character's experience in the French and Indian War, and the relative inexperience of an increasingly young British army, it is possible that Mel Gibson's character could have beaten any one of them in a hand to hand fight using a tomahawk and knife against their bayonet. Emmerich makes equal nonsense of science, too. How so? The issue here is that there isn't just one of them. British soldiers in the Revolution were trained to use the woods to their advantage, and certainly would not have stood at the bottom of a gully, completely exposed, and begging for death. You're dead on with the depiction of slavery. In the interest of brevity I'm attacking this film one topic at a time. The Portal for Public History. The disastrously rigid British formations and collapse of command led to an astounding defeat for the brought on by French colonial irregulars, Native American warriors, and a small contingent of French regulars. I do not have a .308 rifle, but I reload .30-06 and love the round so I'm hesitant to get into another caliber "just because". In 1755, General Braddock led his regular troops and colonial forces against the French Fort Duquesne. British soldiers were trained extensively in the use of the bayonet. I like the price point and the fact that it has a magazine. Also, Mel Gibson is teaming up with the writer of Braveheart and Pearl Harbor to make a film about Vikings. At that, to suggest that, particularly in the skirmishing that the movie revels in, sergeants and corporals would not step up and take charge is preposterous. A great post, OP. After the movie ended, many questions ran through my mind. Press J to jump to the feed. Whenever The Patriot is criticized for its inaccuracy, there's always a voice out there that says it's just an action movie, and shouldn't be so criticized. On the latest episode of the Patriot Nation Podcast, Pat and Spags sit down with Pats Pulpit’s own, Mark Schofield.The three of them discuss the … Regardless of the medium, historical fiction delivers a message. Badhistory is your one-stop shop for casual dissertations on the historicity of everything from bestselling books to zero-budget adult films! Explicitly asks us to turn off our brains, and something i write! 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