Served as a military garrison and recruiting center for regiments sent to fight in America. Scottish Highland regiments, recruited partly through the castle's military infrastructure, played a significant role in the British war effort.
Edinburgh Castle served as a recruiting depot for regiments bound for America. Walk downhill to the Old College, where future revolutionaries studied medicine and law.
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Directions to next stop
- Head west on Johnston Terrace
- Continue straight onto Castle Terrace
- Turn left onto Lady Lawson Street
- Turn left onto West Port
- Continue straight onto Grassmarket
- Turn right onto Guthrie Street
- ... and 4 more steps
Distance: 1.4 km
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Drive: 4 min
Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, earned his medical degree here in 1768; Edinburgh's medical school trained colonial physicians who carried Scottish Enlightenment ideas back to America.
Benjamin Rush, future signer of the Declaration, earned his medical degree here in 1766–1768 — eight years before the Revolution began. Tomorrow, drive southwest to the Solway coast where a very different Scottish revolutionary was born.
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Birthplace of John Paul Jones (born John Paul), the Continental Navy's most celebrated captain, who grew up on this estate before his raids on Whitehaven, St Mary's Isle, and Carrickfergus brought the American war to British home waters.
John Paul Jones was born in this gardener's cottage before becoming the American navy's greatest hero. Drive east along the coast to the estate he raided in 1778.
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Directions to next stop
- Head southeast
- Turn left onto Campbell Avenue
- Turn left
- Turn right
- Keep left
- Keep right
- ... and 25 more steps
Distance: 50.6 km
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Drive: 44 min
John Paul Jones attempted to kidnap the Earl of Selkirk from his estate here on April 23, 1778, the same day as the Whitehaven raid. Finding the Earl absent, the raiders seized the family silver (later returned).
Jones planned to kidnap the Earl of Selkirk, but found him absent; his crew seized the family silver instead — later returned by Jones at personal expense. The raid failed in its objective but terrorised the Scottish coast. Tomorrow, head north to Glasgow's Merchant City.
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Ruined castle in Stevenston, Ayrshire, seat of the Hamilton family from 1655. James Hamilton, born here c.1718, left Scotland for the Caribbean and fathered Alexander Hamilton -- first Secretary of the Treasury and architect of American financial independence. The castle is the first stop on the Stevenston Heritage Trail with interpretation boards and blue plaques.
On the Ayrshire coast, the ruins of Kerelaw Castle mark the ancestral seat of Alexander Hamilton's family. James Hamilton, born here c.1718, left for the Caribbean and fathered the man who would become America's first Secretary of the Treasury. Heritage trail plaques and interpretation boards tell the story. Continue north to Glasgow.
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Directions to next stop
- Head northwest
- Turn left onto A905
- Enter the roundabout and take the 3rd exit onto A905
- Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto A905
- Enter the roundabout and take the 2nd exit onto Bellsdyke Road, A88
- Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto New Carron Road, B902
- ... and 7 more steps
Distance: 8.1 km
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Drive: 9 min
Glasgow's Tobacco Lords built their fortunes on American colonial trade. The Revolution devastated Glasgow's tobacco trade, transforming the city's economy. Merchant City streets and buildings reflect this former wealth.
Glasgow's Tobacco Lords built their fortunes on American trade, and the Revolution ruined many of them. Drive east to Falkirk, where Scotland's industrial might served the war effort.
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Directions to next stop
- Head south on Carrongrange Gardens
- Turn right onto Carrongrange Avenue
- Turn right onto Carrongrange Avenue
- Turn left onto Main Street
- Turn slight right onto Kirk Avenue
- Turn left onto King Street, B905
- ... and 29 more steps
Distance: 17.7 km
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Drive: 22 min
Scottish estate of John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, the last Royal Governor of Virginia who issued the famous 1775 proclamation offering freedom to enslaved people who joined the British cause — one of the Revolution's most provocative acts.
The Dunmore Pineapple marks the estate of Virginia's last Royal Governor, who offered freedom to enslaved people who fought for the Crown. Nearby stand the Carron Ironworks.
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Directions to next stop
- Head north
- Turn left onto Florence Place
- Turn left onto Dunkeld Road, A912
- Turn sharp right onto Dunkeld Road, A912
- Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto Dunkeld Road, A912
- Enter the roundabout and take the 1st exit onto Dunkeld Road, A912
- ... and 26 more steps
Distance: 193.7 km
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Drive: 137 min
Scotland's pioneering ironworks that invented the carronade — the devastating short-range naval cannon named after the works — first produced c.1778 and widely adopted by the Royal Navy during the American war.
Carron invented the carronade — the devastating short-range cannon that changed naval warfare. Continue north to Stirling, another great military garrison.
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A major military garrison used for mustering Scottish troops during the American war. Highland regiments assembled here before being sent to fight in the colonies.
Highland regiments mustered at Stirling before shipping out to fight in America. Tomorrow, drive north through Perth to the Highlands.
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Regimental museum of the 42nd Foot (Black Watch), which fought at Brooklyn, Fort Washington, Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth — suffering among the heaviest losses of any British regiment in the American war.
The Black Watch fought at Brooklyn, Brandywine, and Monmouth. Continue north to Fort George, where the tour ends at one of Europe's finest military fortresses.
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Massive 18th-century garrison fortress used for mustering Highland regiments dispatched to fight in America, including the 71st (Fraser's) Highlanders and the 78th (Seaforth) Highlanders, who suffered heavy casualties in the war.
This massive Hanoverian fortress mustered Highland soldiers for the American war. Tomorrow, drive east to Aberdeen for the tour's final stop.
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King's College, Aberdeen, where Patrick Henry's father John Henry attended on scholarship from 1720 to 1724. The Scottish education John Henry brought to Virginia shaped the household in which one of America's greatest orators was raised. Patrick Henry's 'Give me liberty, or give me death' speech crystallised the revolutionary choice. The Crown Tower chapel (1498-1509) contains the finest medieval woodwork in Scotland.
Patrick Henry's father John Henry studied at this magnificent chapel between 1720 and 1724. The Scottish education he brought to Virginia shaped the household in which America's greatest revolutionary orator was raised — the man whose 'Give me liberty, or give me death' speech tipped Virginia toward independence. The Crown Tower and medieval woodwork are among Scotland's finest.
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