You may not know that there were actually American Prisoners of War (POWs) held in Scotland at one point. Between 1757 and 1814, the vaults beneath Edinburgh Castle’s Great Hall were used to hold prisoners of war. Among them were American sailors captured during the War of American Independence. Classified as rebels, they were tightly confined, excluded from exchange, and held alongside French and Spanish captives. Their presence survives in graffiti, including an early carving of the Stars and