Colonel William Tavington Quotes in The Patriot (2000)

Colonel William Tavington: Kill me before the war is over, will you? It appears that you are not the better man.

Benjamin Martin: You're right. My sons were better men.

Benjamin Martin: Before this war is over, I'm going to kill you.

Colonel William Tavington: Why wait?

Colonel William Tavington: You know, it's an ugly business doing one's duty... but just occasionally it's a real pleasure.

[to Benjamin Martin, after killing his son Thomas]

Colonel William Tavington: Stupid boy.

Capt. Wilkins: [after they have locked the townspeople in the church] Ready to fire the town on your order, sir.

Colonel William Tavington: [laughs] The town? Burn the church.

Benjamin Martin: He cannot be held as a spy.

Colonel William Tavington: Oh, we're not going to hold him. We're going to hang him.

Colonel William Tavington: Would you like a lesson, sir, in the rules of war? Or perhaps your children would?

Colonel William Tavington: Quite impressive for a farmer with a pitchfork, wouldn't you say?

Colonel William Tavington: [Tavington's searching for Martin] ... I wish to know his whereabouts. So, anyone who comes forward may be forgiven their treason.

[silence]

Colonel William Tavington: Very well, you had your chance.

[turns about to leave]

Hardwick: Wait!

[Hardwick tells Tavington everything]

Colonel William Tavington: Thank you very much. Shut the doors!

Hardwick: But you said... we'd be forgiven!

Colonel William Tavington: And indeed you may! But that's between you and God.

Colonel William Tavington: Let it be known if you harbor the enemy you will lose your home.

Colonel William Tavington: [after reading the dispatching note] Who carried this?

[pause]

Colonel William Tavington: Hmm?

[Tavington looks up; Gabrielle looks away as Benjamin turns his head towards him, looking worried]

Colonel William Tavington: [yells] WHO CARRIED THIS?

Gabriel Edward Martin: [emerges from in front of the house] I did, Sir!

[he walks towards Tavington]

Gabriel Edward Martin: I was wounded and these people gave me care. They have nothing to do with the dispatchers.

[Benjamin walks up behind Gabriel]

Colonel William Tavington: [Tavington nods and gives the note to one his men] Take this one to Camden. He is a spy; hang him, put his body on display...

Benjamin Martin: [as Tavington's men move to grab Gabriel, Martin quickly intervenes] He's a dispatch rider and that's a marked case!

Colonel William Tavington: [ignores Benjamin] Destroy the livestock. Set fire to the house and barns.

Benjamin Martin: No! Colonel, he's a uniformed dispatcher, he's a carrying a marked case. He cannot be held as a spy...

Colonel William Tavington: [smirks] Oh no, we're not going to hold him. We're going to hang him!

Benjamin Martin: [as Gabriel is grabbed again] Colonel!

Gabriel Edward Martin: [whispers] Father!

Colonel William Tavington: Oh, I see. He's your son...

[pause]

Colonel William Tavington: Then perhaps you should have told him the rules of loyalty.

Colonel William Tavington: Tell me, Captain Wilkins, where do your loyalties lie?

Capt. Wilkins: To king and country, sir.

Colonel William Tavington: And why should I trust a man who'd betray his neighbors?

Capt. Wilkins: Those neighbors of mine who stand against England deserve to die a traitor's death.

Colonel William Tavington: We'll see.

Lord General Cornwallis: [referring to a replacement formal coat] It's horse blanket.

Colonel William Tavington: Oh, I don't know, my Lord. It's really... quite nice.

General O'Hara: Very nice, my Lord.

Lord General Cornwallis: Very well, it's nice horse blanket.