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Often they were doing their own thing, which often involved running.

That was not exactly the impression Baroness Riedesel (the wife of an enemy General) had. I quote:

"We passed through boundless forests and magnificent tracts of country, which, however, were abandoned by all the inhabitants, who fled before us, and reinforced the army of the American general, Gates. In the sequel this cost us dearly, for every one of them was a soldier by nature, and could shoot very well; besides, the thought of fighting for their fatherland and their freedom, inspired them with still greater courage."

It was New Hampshire and Massachusetts militiamen at the Battle of Bennington who defeated the British force and killed Lieutenant Colonel Baum.

Many of the "Bladensburg runners", who fled before the British regulars managed to reinforce the defense of Baltimore several days later.

True, not all of the militia were riflemen. I was thinking of Tim Murphy, who shot General Fraser (a man Arnold said was worth a regiment). I was thinking of Daniel Wells and Henry McComas who shot General Ross and ended the attack on Baltimore. I was thinking of my ancestors, Michael, who enlisted in Captain Hugh Stephenson's company in 1775 and marched to Boston. He reenlisted in one of the rifle companies raised in Berkeley in 1776. He was captured at Fort Washington and died on one of the infamous British prison ships.

The militia at Cowpens were largely Morgan riflemen who were asked by Morgan to fire twice and then retreat behind the regulars and reload because they didn't have bayonets and their rifles were slower to load than muskets. They effectively took out many of the British officers. According to Col. George Hanger, a rifleman nearly got Tarleton earlier from over 400 feet.