Before disbanding, he instructed the men always to have plenty of powder and balls, and to practice at home, both in marksmanship and in improving the speed with which they could reload and fire. Although there were some holdouts, most men began to like the muskets, with their smoothbore and three-quarter-inch-round balls, which, with intense practice, they were able to fire at least three times in one minute, and some of the more proficient could get off four shots. Each man carried cartridges, called “cottages,” which were the projectile and a charge of powder wrapped in paper. To load, they tore off one end of the paper, poured the powder in the barrel, and then rammed the paper and ball down into the barrel. In rainy weather, with powder inclined toward dampness, the first firing of either type gun was uncertain, and the men would usually wait until the weapon was needed before charging the flintlock with powder to complete the load. Clarke eventually urged most of his men to shift to muskets, like all other militia in the colonies, but he retained some riflemen in each squad who were attached to their long guns. Their sharpshooting ability was invaluable, especially at longer range, since the group was unlikely ever to have cannon of any caliber. Clarke taught all his troops to fire in sequence so that, when possible, adjacent men were never reloading at the same time.

The two British veterans taught the militia how to deal with incoming shells, which had fuses that burned several seconds, and sometimes longer, after the projectile had landed. They were to shout “Shell!” and throw themselves prone or behind a protective barrier until after the explosion. One of the most helpful drills was when Clarke would assign these same experienced men to lead one of the platoons at a time in the British manner, where all troops in line would fire simultaneously and then reload, which made them vulnerable in woodland combat. They found that the Indian style of fighting was almost always superior, but the Redcoat teams presented a formidable threat when they turned to the use of bayonets. It became increasingly obvious to the Georgia militiamen that in actual warfare a forceful charge with bayonets was the most effective way to dishearten and rout an inexperienced and uncertain enemy force. The stiff blade, whether at the end of a gun barrel or just lashed to a stout wooden shaft, was fearsome in its savagery and superior to a sword or other close-order weapon. Long before being engaged in actual combat, they learned to fear the bayonet while fumbling helplessly to reload their own gun under the intense pressure of combat.