think4yourself

politicalprof:

My “full of shit” commenter continues, this time planning to cite those incidents when militias mattered. To wit, I offer these examples of his comments. (Alas, it’s hard to do this in a coherent way in Tumblrville, so this is the best I can figure out.) 

He has subsequently pointed to the Green Mountain Boys, and will no doubt eventually get to Morgan’s campaign in South Carolina.

All of which is true. And all of which makes my point: militias annoyed the British. They made it harder for the British to operate. No doubt they made it harder for the British to mass their forces against the American Army, although to be fair the colonies were big and the forces involved in most battles were surprisingly small so retreat into the wilderness was always an option.

But these events didn’t beat the British.

The British did not surrender to a militia. They surrendered to an army. (Two, in fact, if you remember the French.) Indeed, Cornwallis’ deputy tried to give his sword to the French general at Yorktown, but the French officer demurred and indicated he should surrender to Washington. 

Can armed people make it hard for an oppressor to govern? Absolutely. Did some of the American militia do this in the Revolution? Absolutely. Did the militia beat the British? 

Don’t make me laugh.