Nevertheless, Tarlton was a savage brute, and there is a good reason why the Brits were HATED in this country until WWII (only the Anglophile Wilson and the New England prep-school nancy boys in the state department loved Ol' Blighty).
Francis Marion is a hero, and the Brits (and their loyalist lackeys) were trounced on the battlefield (after early victories) by a bunch of aging veterans of the Seven Years/French and Indian War, and the green farm boys under their command.
It must of been great for the ego of the House of Hanover, to say nothing of the inbred twits in the British high command (Cornwallis, a fine man, being the main exception) to get defeated by an "inferior" adversary, albeit one with assistance from the French.
Nevertheless, I agree that motion pictures, including the Patriot, are a poor place to learn history. It still is a great movie, however, as was Braveheart, although I'm sure the Poms didn't enjoy that one either.
I thought "The Patriot" was cool. As was "Braveheart."
I am halfway through a MA in history. History is always being rewritten to suit the needs of the teller, and the audience.
If the audience needs some thrills, chills and popcorn, well, that's not the end of the world, is it?
Probably 9/10ths of what we know about history, we learned at the movies, be it Robin Hood or Hitler.