From what I can tell Patton would send a tank battalion to engage an enemy armored column low on fuel with little ammunition. Not sure if that story is true but I take it as incompetence, in the movie it is made to look heroic.
Patton would also order his subordinates to send junior officers up to exposed forward positions until enough of them were killed to satisfy him. He would explicitly say he wanted more officers killed. As I read more, including his letters to his wife, he comes off as a really insecure, sensitive guy who is wildly overcompensating for it.