The Patriot Filming Locations to Visit
The 2000 film The Patriot tells of a South Carolinian man named Benjamin Martin that leads an uprising after his son was murdered by a British officer. The plot is loosely based on the life of “The Swamp Fox” Francis Marion, who engaged in guerilla warfare during the Revolutionary War. Mel Gibson starred alongside then-newcomer Heath Ledger, Joely Richardson, Jason Isaacs, and Chris Cooper. All of the filming took place in South Carolina, specifically the Upstate and Lowcountry. The town of Rock Hill served as the production’s headquarters. A private farm in Chester was where the scene depicting the Battle of Cowpens took place, which was a significant defeat in the real-life British campaign. They transformed it into a Colonial village with a church and cabins. The small towns of Fort Lawn and Lowrys were also used.