The regiment is usually stated to have been raised in Ireland in early 1689, though one of its officers noted it was "one of the oldest in [Ireland], giving their precedence only to the Guards", raised in 1662. During the Williamite War it was initially commanded by a Scot, Brigadier Robert Ramsay, and served at Derry, where Ramsay was killed in early May leading an attack on Windmill Hill.