Her reply, "It's a free country – or will be soon," was a 20th century throw-away line dressed up with a 1780 caveat, and I cringed at it. One bad bit of dialogue: Benjamin Martin is on the beach with his sister-in- law, and he asks if he can sit down. In reality they would have been rags by then – or at least not so clean. Crisp, clean, brand-new Colonial American flags suddenly appear after, and during, the final battle. Plot points such as Benjamin Martin's youngest daughter's feelings about her daddy, and the romance between his son and a young girl were touching, and even emotional. That was impressive, and made the film genuine, exciting and at times, shocking. I won't give anything away, but this did NOT (arguably) have either an entirely "Hollywood" plot – people, including civilians, DIE, as they do in war – or much of a "Hollywood" ending, despite a relatively happy one. The look and feel of this period was portrayed well.
Yes, it was violent, but that lent a realism to the film that most other films about this era lack. The wide-open vistas and battle scenes were breath-taking and beautifully filmed. As a documentary, it fails on this and many other points.
The movie portrayed him as having far fewer. For instance, in real life, he had over 150 men in his guerrilla band. Loosely based upon Francis Marion (the "Swamp Fox"), it only touched on Marion's impact on the Revolution in South Carolina.