Men who were not fighters by trade or inclination had stood side by side behind their earthworks and their fences and had waited calmly while some of the most formidable fighters in the world advanced against them in ordered ranks.
A few months earlier the odds against the success of any American military effort would have been overwhelming…Now Americans had met it face to face, and…it could be seen for what it was: an army that commanded great respect, but one composed of men no taller or stronger than any others.
By demonstrating that some rather ordinary American farmers had stood against this formidable enemy, the battle of June 17 proved, as nothing else could, that others might accomplish the same thing. Had they failed, it is conceivable that the rebellion might have sputtered out.