Levy Spearmen/Spear Militia: Completely Useless?

[Afro Thunder]

Am I missing something here, or does it seem like levy spearmen and spear militia are the most useless units in the game?

- In a one-on-one fight against peasants, the peasants win. (How does that work exactly?)

- Even the most basic cavalry unit just runs them down like blades of grass. (A direct frontal charge, mind you!)

- They even lose to peasant archers in melee.

Maybe I'm meant to use them in the streets of siege battles, where cavalry essentially lose the ability to charge, or do they provide some sort of hidden garrison bonus, like they increase the garrison effect in your cities?