According to Mr.Norton in his memoir of the rebellion against the British in 1837, him being on the rebel side, first states that they were not well versed in the way of how to handle guns. They were first basically rounded up and given a staggered arrangement of weapons and told to put their toe on the line and fight. This s not the best way to approach a war obviously as it seems no one knew what the heck to do.
Mackenzie’s memoir states that when they approached a town they saw a group of the enemy. first the rebels shot at them then the enemy shot back and ran away. When the rebels shot again they did not step aside to make room for the bullets instead they dropped to the ground which is dangerous i supposed since u might get shot yourself. Also someone from the rebel side did get shot and killed and when Mackenzie took a look he noticed that by the way that the man was shot he was not shot by the enemy but by his own team. Yet again an example of poor organization and skill.
Mr. Bellingham (British) states that his leader and most of the men rode horses which is smart because then you somewhat above the rebels and can hurt them more easily.
In short the rebels lost due to lack of proper training, skills, efficient weapons, and size of army.