Tyler Hamaker White 6 9/29/13 History v. Hollywood

The Lead character, Benjamin Martin, is a veteran of the French and Indian war; he is still haunted by the tactics that were used to win the war and so refuses to participate in the Revolutionary War. He openly says the he refuses to fight in the war in order to protect his seven children. The two eldest sons, on the other hand, have patriotic blood running through them and want nothing more then to serve their country in war. Benjamin, who understands the cruelties of war, forbids his sons from fighting. When war is declared Gabriel, the oldest son, enlists with out his fathers consent. After a battle and Gabriels regiment is hurt so he takes them to his dad's house to have help with the wounded. Not long after Colonel Tavington, a British soldier infamous for his brutal attacks, captures Gabriel and orders him to be hanged. As Gabriel is taken away Thomas, a few years younger, is shot by the hands of the British trying to save his brother. Benjamin is enraged by the actions of the British and seeks revenge. He takes two of his middle sons and plans on attacking the British who have captured and are now transporting Gabriel. He and his two boys kill about twenty men and free Gabriel. After a short absence, Gabriel decides to go back to the war. Ben takes the children to their Aunt Charlottes' house, and then he decides to go to war as well. Ben realizes that the open field battle strategies employed by the militias were not functioning well; he decided to switch to guerilla, hit and run, tactics to defeat small groups of the British. Ben and his men intercept a British supply line and steal British possessions. General Cornwallis is outraged by this and orders Tavington to find Bens' family and kill them. Tavington burn down Charlottes' plantation hopping to kill the family; Gabriel catches wind of this and manages to smuggle the family to a safe location. While he was gone, Gabriel finds the love of his live and marries her. Soon after Gabriel leaves, Tavington locks some citizens in a church and burns it to the ground because they aided the patriots; one of the people killed was Gabriel's new bride. When Gabriel find out about this, he takes a group of men and plans on killing Tavington. He manages to fire a gun and knock Tavington to the ground; Gabriel thinks Tavington is dead and attempts to stab him, but at the last second Tavington turns around and stabs Gabriel. Ben finds Gabriel as he is dyeing on the ground. Now his two oldest sons have died at the hands of Colonel Tavington. Benjamin helps coordinate the climatic battle where the Americans finally win. He plans to attack the British with a small militia then retreat down a hill to a large group of regulars. The British fall into this trap hopping to finish off the Americans. Ben and Tavington finally get their one on one climatic fight. After some sword play Ben is struck and falls to the ground on his knees. As Tavington is about to behead Ben, he ducks and stabs Tavington in the gut with a bayonet; Ben gets up and stabs Tavington in the neck with another bayonet. Tavington finally dies and Ben gets the vengeance that he has been eagerly waiting for. Throughout the entire movie the mood is a revengeful and sorrowful one, but at this one point the mood changes to a cheerful one. It is as if all the deaths were not in vain, but for the greater good. The British retreat only to find that they are sounded be the French and are forced to surrender. The Patriot takes place during the Revolutionary War, primarily when the war was fought in the