ABSTRACT
American militia in the Revolutionary War was irregulars; the Continental Army was a regular army. In the twentieth century the Boer War was largely a guerrilla war, pitting Afrikaner kommandos against British regulars. The war had begun in October 1899 as a conventional war fought between Boer irregulars and British regulars. In World War II guerrillas played the major role in Yugoslavia, where they operated in brigade strength and controlled large portions of the mountainous countryside. The war had acquired a mixed character combining elements of guerrilla and conventional warfare. The law of war recognizes the legitimacy of irregular armies, but it places restrictions on all combatants. The combatant who dresses in an enemy uniform increases the chances that other combatants will die in particularly tragic circumstances; the combatant who dresses as a civilian increases the chances that non-combatants will die.
