The regiment was raised in Buckinghamshire by Lieutenant-Colonel George Nugent as the 85th Regiment of Foot, in response to the threat posed by the French Revolution, on 18 November 1793. The regiment was sent to join the Duke of York's army in the Netherlands in 1794 as part of the unsuccessful defence of that country against the Republican French during the Flanders Campaign. It was posted to Gibraltar in 1795 and returned home in 1797. It embarked for the Netherlands again in August 1799 and saw action at the Battle of Alkmaar and the Battle of Castricum in October 1799 during the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland.