British were defeated because George III ultimately conceded after parliament begged him to do so because it was putting a strain on the already tense economy.

>Anime profile picture
>”Do you know anything about war?”

washington himself wrote about how the colonial militias were incompetent and useless in a fight against the british

<:oh:603773792673595405>

Then the Hessian auxiliaries arrived, lol.

militiamen were only ever useful in support roles, and were more of a hindrance to the continental army than a boon

You’re wrong but I decline to comment further

if you're not going to back what you say up then don't say anything

lol

The style of warfare in the AWI made militias useful in certain capacities

The reason why they had a reputation for running is not the normal one you will hear

I mean both the organized British military and colonial army + militia had their fair share of victories and notable accomplishments.

Let me finish I can’t type fast enough

auxiliary roles and irregular campaigns

the war was, by and large, won by the continental army with foreign support

not militia

That’s not my point

You said only ever useful in support roles

The word ever is my point of contention

poor choice or words then

There were battles that were fought with the militia and continental army that were won by the milita, even against a larger opfor

I.E. battle of cow pens

Granted in the late war they certainly became more useful as front line screening, scouting, and delaying troops

But the loyalist militias performed similarly

i'm not too familiar with the loyalist militias

What I actually wanted to say was that the reason most militia members would give to running was not lack of training/ outdated equipment

It was almost solely due to a lack of bayonets

Loyalist support is often understated in American history. It was a considerable portion of the population in the 13 Colonies that supported the British administration, @T. Raven.

i think the majority of them lacked discipline which made them poor front line troops

It wasn’t so much discipline as common sense

They were not equipped to effectively fight the regulars, but they did perform well in certain battles

^^this, your bayonet was your bestfriend as a soldier

The lack of weapons capable of mounting a bayonet in possession of the milita was more of a cause

Because most battles at the time were fought/ ended with the use of a bayonet charge, and hand to hand fighting

Again the point of war at the time was not attrition, but to force the enemy to cede their land to you

i.e. force them to run away

If you had to fight a guy with a 5-6 foot long spear, and all you had was a knife or hatchet, then it would certainly make more sense for you to run, and potentially keep fighting

There were many cases where continental commanders saw it fit to order the militia to retreat

I’m just going to finish with the fact that the militia *did* effectively fight the regulars prior to the establishment of the continental army

That’s my incoherent rambling over

Yeah but we can talk about why bolt action rifles are the marksmen rifles of true Chads