Scottish Soldiers in Colonial America

Scottish soldiers played an important role in defending the American colonies and in settling them. Around the middle of the 18th century, the British government began to dispatch Highland Regiments, such as Fraser’s Highlanders, the Black Watch, and Montgomery’s Highlanders, to America. The French and Indain War of 1756-1763, in particular, led to significant recruitment in Scotland for service in the American colonies. The experience gained by these soldiers was to influence their decision to settle or emigrate, subsequently, to America. In this regard the allocation of land to former military personnel in the aftermath of that war was a major incentive. Not surprisingly, the massive increase in emigration to America from the Scottish Highlands that occurred in the decade of the French and Indian War resulted to some extent from the influence of returning soldiers. Scottish soldiers and former soldiers fought on both sides of the American Revolution, and following that conflict a number of jScottish Loyalists settled in what were to become Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Ontario, and Quebec. For this book, Scottish emigration authority David Dobson identified over a thousand Scottish solders in colonial America. The list of soldiers is arranged alphabetically and, while the descriptions vary widely, the researcher will discover some or all of the following information in each one: soldier’s name, rank, military unit, date(s) and campaign(s) of service, place of birth, when arrived in North America, civilian occupation, date and place of death, and the source of the information.