The underlying story is based in part on the legend of Mary "Polly" Slocum. Polly Slocum was awakened by a dream that her husband was hurt, rode sixty-five miles to the site of the Battle of Moores Creek (February 27, 1776, about twenty miles north of Wilmington, North Carolina) to find her husband well, and the Patriots victorious. But she stayed on to nurse the wounded. The authenticity of this underlying story is not universally accepted. The character of Mary Slocum in the film's movie-within-a-movie is played by Faith Healy who is portrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer.
The scene where Michael and Elliott are driving a convertible, and stop just in time before they are hit by a train, was filmed in reverse. The train was run backwards, along with the car during filming.
Filmmaker Alan Alda hired three hundred members of Brigade of the American Revolution to re-stage the picture's climactic battle. The Brigade were a group of amateur historians that re-enact important battles from the 18th Century.
Sole feature-film appearance of stage actor and playwright Larry Shue. He was killed in a plane crash eight months before the film's release.