The regiment was raised by Henry Herbert at Ludlow on 16 March 1689, following the 1688 Glorious Revolution and exile of James II. It served throughout the 1689 to 1691 Williamite War in Ireland, including the Battle of the Boyne in July 1690, and Aughrim in 1691 which brought the campaign to an end. It joined Allied forces fighting in the Nine Years War and at Namur in August 1695, took part in the attack on the Terra Nova earthwork that inspired the song 'The British Grenadiers.'