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“militia system was so discredited that the military leadership trained and organized our forces on European lines.”

New Hampshire and Massachusetts militiamen defeated the detachment of Burgoyne’s army (and their reinforcements) at the Battle of Bennington. The battle was a decisive victory; it reduced Burgoyne's army in size by almost 1,000 men, led his Indian support to largely abandon him, and deprived him of needed supplies such as cavalry and draft horses and food, all factors that contributed to Burgoyne's eventual surrender at Saratoga.

The militia was a decisive element during the battle of Saratoga (read what Riedesel, the wife of the German general who was captured there had to say.) A militia man shot General Simon Fraser which stopped the British charge. American riflemen shot British soldiers from getting water from the river. The militiaman, armed with a rifle, would (could) not stand up to a bayonet charge, as proved at the Battle of Bladensburg. Once this limitation was recognized, they were very effective. Under Morgan and Nathanael Greene (both former militia leaders), they played a decisive roll at the Battle of Cowpens and defeated a British army led by Banastre Tarleton. You might also like to read what Col. George Hanger, 4th Baron Coleraine, commander of its light dragoons under Tarleton, had to say about the American rifleman in his book (Advice To All Sportsmen, Farmers And Gamekeepers.)

In the War of 1812, two teenage riflemen were credited with killing General Robert Ross and thus delaying the British advance on Baltimore long enough to give the Americans time to entrench.

During the Civil War, the Virginia militia was the bases for the Southern cavalry that played Hell with the Northern troops in the Shenandoah Valley.

First of all, you are not quoting me, but the post to which I replied.

Second, while militia certainly had their roles and remained in the RevWar forces, it simply remains that their importance is overstated. Often they were doing their own thing, which often involved running. Riflemen were not all militia, many State troops, and not all militia were equipped with rifles. They carried what they had, as did all too often the more regular troops. Most often, that would be smooth-bore muskets.

As to Cowpens, militia were told all they need do was hold the front line for 2-3 rounds, then fool the dragoons into thinking they were - as usual, which is key - running away. Into the lines of regulars who would end it.