I believe you are a poor student of history. Washington and the militia engaged in open combat with British and Hessian regulars. There were guerrilla tactics used, but not by the Continental Army. Washington knew full well that he had to defeat the British openly in order to be considered legitimate.
Concord was "open combat?" The Brits were ambushed from the side of the road, and harassed all the way back to Lexington. And the attack at Trenton was hardly "open combat," since most of the Hessian mercs were drunk. And it was the middle of the night.
You're trying hard to apply a different standard to "our" guys than you would to someone else. But the fact is, the Revolutionaries could easily be classified as terrorists.
But that's just a label. The cause for which they fought was just. I think the world -- and even the vanquished British -- would ultimately admit that. But then you get into an "end justifies the means" argument.
Personally, I don't care what label you slap on the Revolutionaries. And I don't care what equivalencies you draw between them and today's so-called freedom fighters. We won. And I am the heir to that legacy -- both good and bad.