Other key battles in the War for Independence were also won by militia were the defeat of Gen. Burgoyne in New York and the battle of Kings Mountain in Tennessee. That they did not is, self-evidently, because the idea did not occur to them. An editor's note at the end of Korda's article says that Bellesiles did not reply to an invitation to respond to his piece. When Bellesiles' book has been reviewed by someone who has some expertise regarding his topic, the comments have been very critical. His conclusions frequently overreach the evidence.
Extensive research is undermined by errors of fact, omission and judgment.
In my next column, I'll examine what, exactly, Prof. Bellesiles has written, and said in interviews, about the Second Amendment.