The regiment was raised in Ireland by Lieutenant-General Thomas Meredyth as Meredyth's Regiment in February 1702. It embarked for the Netherlands in May 1703 and fought under the Duke of Marlborough at the Battle of Schellenberg in July 1704, the Battle of Blenheim in August 1704 and the Battle of Ramillies in May 1706 as well as the Battle of Oudenarde in July 1708 and the Battle of Malplaquet in September 1709 during the War of the Spanish Succession. he regiment embarked for North America for service in the American Revolutionary War in 1776 and was present at the Battle of Long Island in August 1776 and the British surrender at the end of the Siege of Yorktown in September 1781. It became the 37th (the North Hampshire) Regiment of Foot in 1782. The regiment was next in action at the Battle of Tournay in May 1794 in the Flanders Campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars.