Civil War.
War between citizens (civilês). In English history the term is applied to the war between Charles I. and his Parliament; but the War of the Red and White Roses was a civil war In America the War of Secession (1861–1865) was a civil war.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.