The regiment was raised by Major General Albemarle Bertie as the Loyal Lincoln Volunteers, in response to the threat posed by the French Revolution, on 23 September 1793.

[3] After a year's service in Ireland, the regiment was detailed to serve under Major-General Ralph Abercromby in the West Indies.

[5] As was common during the era, the European troops of the regiment suffered heavily from tropical diseases, in particular yellow fever.

The 2nd battalion of the regiment was formally embodied on 15 October 1803 at Mills Bay Barracks in Plymouth under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Knight.

The 1st battalion participated in the invasion of Naples,[12] but then retreated to Sicily once word of the Napoleon's victory at Ulm was received.

[13] Still in Sicily in 1806, the 1st battalion was part of Major General John Stuart's force that attacked the French in Calabria.

[14] After stopping the initial French advance with musket fire, Stuart ordered forward Colonel Acland's brigade (including the 1st battalion).

[15] Despite its victory at Maida, the 1st battalion soon withdrew to Sicily after Stuart's campaign failed to produce a general uprising against the French.

Along with the rest of the 15,000 men, the 2nd battalion was destined for Corunna where it took part in Moore's campaign in northern Spain during the winter of 1808 to assist the Spanish Armies against Imperial France.

On 16 January 1809, as part of Lieutenant-General David Baird's division guarding the right flank of the British forces, the 2nd battalion fought in some of the heaviest fighting of the battle.

[22] After spending almost six years defending Sicily, the 1st battalion was withdrawn and assigned to Lieutenant-General Frederick Maitland's expedition to Catalonia.

[26] Advancing, Murray's command, and the 1st battalion, encountered and defeated Suchet's forces at the Battle of Castalla on 13 April 1813.

[27] A month later, after besieging the city of Tarragona,[28] the 1st battalion retreated offshore with the rest of Anglo-Spanish-Sicilian force when General Murray was fooled into believing that advancing French columns were significantly larger than they actually were.

[29] After Murray's relief and replacement by Lieutenant General Lord William Bentinck, the 1st battalion returned with the rest of the force to the region around Alicante.

[33] With Napoleon's abdication after signing the Treaty of Fontainebleau, the 2nd battalion remained in the Netherlands, stationed at Brussels, rather than being despatched to North America to fight against the United States.

[35] The 1st battalion embarked for Europe on 15 June 1815:[36] it missed the final campaign against Napoleon[37] but served in the occupation army in France until April 1817 at which time it was posted to Ireland.

The 2nd battalion was assigned to the 10th Brigade under Major-General John Lambert, part of Lieutenant General Lowry Cole's 6th Division.

There they were stationed at the Meean Meer cantonment with three infantry battalions, one cavalry regiment, and some artillery units of the East India Company.

[43] When word reached the Punjab of the mutiny, the regiment disarmed the Company battalions at Meean Meer during a surprise parade inspection.

The objective of Cotton's command was to carry out a punitive expedition against Hindustani fanatics who had been instrumental in the mutiny of a native regiment stationed near Peshawar.

[49] After destroying the fortifications at Mangal Thana, the expedition turned its attention to the main fanatic base at Sittana.

Despite resistance from the Fanactics, the upper and lower Sittana villages were captured by the British forces, including the regiment.

Assigned to The Peshawar Valley Field Force, under the command of Lieutenant General Sir Sam Browne, the regiment took part in the Battle of Ali Masjid in November 1878.