Corrected entry: The main historical falsehood in this film is, of course, the burning of the church by British and Loyalist forces with the population of the town inside. This type of incident is typical of the Germans in World War 2 (e.g. Lidice, Oradour) but there is no comparable incident recorded from the American Revolution by either the British or the Americans.
Correction: Actually, the British did burn a church with the entire population of a town inside. However, the makers did change the fact that the moment the British had left the town, it began to rain and put out the fire; thus everyone survived. Most likely they only changed this for theatrical effect.
Corrected entry: When Benjamin Martin meets with Cornwallis about the prisoner exchange and brings the dogs in (Great Danes or otherwise), Cornwallis refers to them as "boys." The black dog is female.
Correction: "Boy" for dogs is gender neutral. A lot of owners of female dogs call it a boy. Certainly with 2 dogs you'd never say "come boy and girl."
I have 3 dogs, 1 male, 2 female. No one in the family calls them boys. Sorry but I don't buy that explanation. I think it was just a miss.
1 example, an example where the females are the majority. Not really a good example I'd say. Again, "boys" is gender neutral. Also, he says it once, just once. Are you saying it is not possible for someone to call a male and female dog "boys"? It's not a movie mistake.
It is entirely possible that the film-makers chose to have a female dog play a male dog. For example, in the TV show Lassie, Lassie is played by a male collie even though it is well-established that Lassie is a female. A more recent example is the reverse, where on the CBS show Seal Team, there is a dog on there named Cerberus who is male, but is in fact played by a female named Dita.
It should be noted that people have submitted mistakes for the wrong sexed animal being used (i.e. a male dog playing a female). But really to be considered a character mistake, it would have to be out of character for the person calling a female (or male) animal "boy" (or "girl"). Calling a male and female dog "boys" doesn't seem out of character enough to be a mistake.
Continuity mistake: In the scene when the Martins are in Charleston, Peter Howard is talking about his experience in the French and Indian War and how he lost his leg fighting in it. When the camera shows him standing there, he is holding a crutch under his right arm, seemingly supporting him, but it is his left leg that is missing. So he is actually giving support to his good leg while giving none to the missing one.
Suggested correction: It is the correct way to use one crutch. Crutches are usually used on the opposite side of the leg they must support. When one leg is partially weight-bearing, the crutch is on the opposite arm, when both legs are partially weight-bearing, two crutches are used each one moving along with the opposite leg. For more info, google "two-point gait."
Corrected entry: When the church is burned down and Anne is inside, the congregation is burned to death. Then, when they find the necklace that was given to Anne, it is still attached to the string. How could a ribbon and metal charm still be in good shape if the fire burned down the church?
Correction: Possibly this could be explained by the fact that the British army never burned a church with people inside. While the British army did commit atrocities in North America during the war, but they never went as far as to deliberately incinerate civilians in a church.
They tried to, but after they left the town, it started raining, so the fire was put out.
Corrected entry: In one scene while Benjamin and his friends are standing and talking, you can see above them a large microphone.
Correction: In order for this to be a valid mistake, the specific scene or time stamp in the movie would have to be listed.
Other mistake: When Martin and his younger sons attack the soldiers Gabriel sent to their camp, the body count totals 20. That includes the private who gets up and tries to run that Martin hacks to death. Later when Tavington is questioning the wounded private the Cherokee scouts brought in, he indicates he was in the fight. But Tavington states 20 soldiers were killed and the ambush shows 20 being killed. Where did the private come from?
Suggested correction: There are 21 soldiers in the group. Samuel kills one with a rifle. Nathan kills six with a rifle. Benjamin kills four with his rifles, one with a pistol, six with his knife and tomahawk, two with redcoat rifles, and shoots the injured man into the stream.
Correction: You say the British tried to incinerate people in a church? Yes, atrocities were committed during the war, but I have NEVER heard of the British doing that! Please can you name the community where this took place? Or the date it occurred? Or name the Britons who perpetrated this outrage? The nearest equivalent I can find is Brunswick Town, in North Carolina. The citizens of Brunswick Town were exceptionally active in opposing British rule. In 1776 the British army and navy launched a retaliatory attack on Brunswick Town, and burnt the town, including the church. But the citizens of Brunswick Town saw the British coming, and fled for safety, so nobody was killed. Brunswick Town was never rebuilt, and the ruins of the church and the rest of the town are now a historic visitor attraction. I concede the British may have been morally reprehensible to burn Brunswick Town, but they did not go so far as to try to incinerate the townspeople.