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On 28 June 1701, Arthur Chichester, 3rd Earl of Donegall was appointed colonel of the regiment of foot he had raised at his own expense in the northern counties of Ireland. The new unit was accordingly titled the Earl of Donegall's Regiment of Foot, although it was sometimes informally known as "The Belfast Regiment", this being the place where it was first embodied. This was the second Earl of Donegall's Regiment: the previous regiment was raised in 1693 and disbanded on 8 February 1697: despite the names there was no lineal connection between them.
The regiment was raised to meet the threat of war with France, but was also a strongly Protestant unit tasked with resisting the spread of Roman Catholicism in Britain. The king, William of Orange, gave special permission for the regiment to bear orange facings to show their religious allegiance and as a mark of royal favour.
The regiment returned to fight in the American War of Independence arriving at Boston in April 1775. The flank companies, which arrived first, were the regiment's Light InfantryCompany and Grenadier Company, were amalgamated during this time. They were formed with other flank companies in the 1st Battalion Light Infantry and 1st Battalion Grenadiers, respectively. These companies took part in the Battles of Bunker Hill and suffered tremendous casualties. Of the Light Infantry, only three privates escaped without wounds, whereas all others were killed or injured to some extent. The Grenadier Company fared no better. The rest of the regiment, made up of regular battalion companies, arrived shortly thereafter along with its field commander, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Carr. Having endured the siege of Boston, Lord Howe evacuated the army and Bostonian loyalists to Halifax, Canada in March 1776. From there, the army descended upon New York. The battalion companies of the 35th Regiment were part of the II Brigade and, after invading Long Island from Staten Island, participated in the Brooklyn. Still pursuing Washington, the British force, including the 35th, moved north and engaged the enemy at theBattle of Pelham Manor and the Battle of White Plains where Lt. Col. Robert Carr was killed in action. The army moved against Manhattan again and the regiment participated in the Battle of Harlem Heights with all companies hotly engaged. Afterwards, the battalion companies of the regiment remained on garrison duty. In 1777, the Light Infantry and Grenadiers participated in the Philadelphia Campaign and the culmination of the retreat across New Jersey with the Battle of Monmouth, 1778. The battalion companies, in the meantime, had garrisoned such places as Amboy and New Brunswick, and were moved back to New York. Shortly thereafter, General James Grant took 5,000 men, including the 35th, to the West Indies. The regiment took part in the capture of St. Lucia in the West Indies in 1778 and remained in the Caribbean area until 1785. During the Napoleonic wars both battalions of the regiment served in the Mediterranean during the Sicilian campaign in 1806, and then in Alexandria during the 1807. The 35th later served in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.
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