. The Wars of the Roses is the name given to the wars between the house of York and that of Lancaster. It began with the battle of St. Albans, May 23, 1455, and ended with the battle of Bosworth Field, August 22, 1483. A white rose formed the badge of the House of York, and a red rose was the cognizance of the House of Lancaster. The political effects of the war were - (1) the ruin of the ancient baronage, and (2) the growth of monarchical power, being relieved of the baronial check.

The boomerang is a wooden missile used by the aborigines of Australia in hunting and in war. It is so constructed that the missile slowly ascends into the air, whirling round and round, and describing a curved line of progress till it reaches a considerable height, when it begins to retrograde, and finally, if thrown with sufficient force, falls eight or ten yards behind the thrower, or it may fall near him. Colloquially a boomerang is a story told for a political purpose, which, being proved false, reacts upon its originator.

The mace, a thick, heavy club or staff, about five feet long, surmounted by a metal head, frequently spiked, was used by knights and warlike churchmen in the middle ages, The ornamental maces of parliament, the universities, and city corporations, borne as an ensign of authority, may be traced to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when princes armed their guards with spikeless maces as the handiest against the sudden attacks of the assassins. The need passed away, but the maces remained as symbols of rank.

An indefinite but interesting locality is the Wilderness, a region in Virginia, two miles south of the Rapidan, covered with dense thicket, and memorable for the dreadful two days' battle fought in its depths by Grant and Lee, May 5-6, 1864. The Union loss was eighteen thousand, the Confederate eleven thousand, and the desperate fighting utterly without advantage to either side. The name Wilderness Campaign has been given to all the movements of Grant's overland march to Richmond, and including the battles of Spotsylvania Courthouse and Cold Harbor.

The Shenandoah is a river tributary of the Potomac, which flows through the valley of Virginia. It was the scene of numerous military operations during the civil war, notably in 1864, when its neighborhood was devastated by General Sheridan. One of the Confederate cruisers, commanded by Captain Waddell, was named the Shenandoah and committed great devastation among the shipping of the Federal Government. The vessel was surrendered to the British Government (Nov. 1865) and given up to the United States consul.

Contraband of war is a name applied to certain commodities during hostilities between states which acknowledge what are called the laws of nations. One such law is, that neutral nations must not carry on, for the advantage of either of the belligerent powers, any branches of commerce from which they are excluded in time of peace. Another is, that the name of contraband of war shall be given to such articles as pertain to military or naval warfare - guns, ammunition, and stores of all kinds. Negroes were held to be contraband of war during the civil war.

A singular weapon, used by the natives and half-breeds of southern South America, is the bolas, consisting of two heavy balls, generally of stone covered with leather, connected by a plaited thong six to eight feet long. One bola is held in the right hand, while the other is swung rapidly round the head at the full extent of the thong, and both are discharged at the animal to be captured so as to wind round its feet and bring it to the ground. In another form of bolas there are three balls, not of the same size, connected at the common center by three short thongs or ropes.

The sutlers and dealers in smallwares who follow an army are often called camp followers. In India, owing to the peculiar habits and customs of the natives, and the large number of servants retained by European troops, the camp followers sometimes number four times the actual force: comprising servants, grooms, grass cutters, mule and camel drivers, water-carriers, sutlers, snake charmers, dancers, conjurers, and women. Even in European armies they are necessary; they are at all times under the control of the commanding officer, but only subject to military law when in the field.

The military operation of capturing an enemy's town or fortress, often without a bombardment or regular siege, is called a blockade. The attacking party throws up works on the neighboring heights and roads, so as to guard every exit from the town. The rest of the besieging force remains under cover in villages, or in a temporary camp, ready to repel any sortie attempted by the besieged. The whole purpose in view is to prevent the besieged from receiving supplies of any kind, in order that, when the food or the ammunition is exhausted, they may be compelled to surrender. It was introduced by the Dutch about 1584.

Parole is the declaration made on honor by an officer in a case in which there is no more than his sense of honor to restrain him from breaking his word. Thus, a prisoner of war may be released from actual prison on his parole that he will not go beyond certain designated limits; or he may even be allowed to return to his own country on his parole not to fight again, during the existing war, against his captors. To break parole is accounted infamous in all civilized nations, and an officer who has so far forgotten his position as a gentleman ceases to have any claim to the treatment of an honorable man, nor can he expect quarter should he again fall into the hands of the enemy he has deceived.

The zouaves were originally a warlike tribe of Kabyles in the military employment of the Dey of Algiers. After the French occupation of Algiers (1830) they were incorporated with the French army, but the native element was gradually eliminated from the corps, and after 1840 the zouaves were simply French soldiers, bearing the native name and wearing the native dress. The zouaves distinguished themselves in Algiers, in the Crimean war, and in the Italian campaign of 1850, and were long looked upon as the elite of the French infantry.