I understand, and you make a good explanation in this post; I'm just saying that you can't say 'They were volunteers' as an explanation of why they kept their equipment in a lousy state. Or threw it away. Even saying they were a militia doesn't really explain that fact - You had so-called Schutterijen, local militia companies, in the Netherlands who were just as uniformed as the regulars or National Militia. The National militia, in fact, was an almost fully conscripted corps - The name militia wasn't entirely appropriate, maybe.
Didn't the rebels once throw away all their greatcoats in summer only to freeze almost to death in the winter, making Lee's planned surprise assault impossible?