A work-in-progress!

 The American Revolution

• 1775: 35th Regiment arrives in Boston under Lt. Colonel Robert Carr, but companies are separated.  Several battalion companies arrive before grenadier company.
• 1775: 35th Regiment strength is about 450 officers and men.
• 1775: Battle of Bunker Hill, Massachusetts, June 17th.  Flank companies sent.  Five 35th Grenadiers and three Light Infantrymen unscathed, all others wounded or killed.
• 1776: General Howe evacutes Boston bringing a number of Loyalists with him and the army to Halifax, Canada.
• 1776: 35th Regiment among the forces landing at Staten Island to prepare for the New York Campaign.
• 1776: Battle of Long Island, New York.  35th Regiment forms part of General Agnew's II Brigade.  General Howe successfully forces the Continental army out of Long Island, but fails to capture or destroy the rebels.
• 1776: Battle at Pelham Manor.  Militiamen attempt to delay Howe's advance on White Plains.
• 1776: Battle of White Plains, New York, October 28th - November 5th.  General Howe and General Sir Henry Clinton defeat Washington's army.  Lt. Col. Robert Carr, after recently inheriting some £40,000, is shot and killed.  James Cockburn succeeds him.  British Army moves back to New York City.
• 1776: Battle of Fort Washington.  Part of the 2nd Brigade, 35th companies engaged in ousting the last Rebel contingent in the area around New York City.
• 1776-1777: The battalion companies of the 35th garrisoned in New Brunswick, NJ.
• 1777: John Graves Simcoe takes command of the Queen's Rangers.
• 1777 - 78: Grenadier company part of the 1st Battalion of Grenadiers, engaged in the Philadelphia Campaign.
• 1777: American victory at the Battle of Saratoga (35th not present) eventually leads France into an open alliance with the rebelling colonies.
• 1778: Philadelphia evacuated, British forces return to New York.
• 1778: General Sir Henry Clinton sends 5,000 troops, including the 35th Regiment, to the West Indies theater to fight against the French.
• 1778: Battle of St. Lucia, West Indies, December 12-28, 1778.  French fleet defeated in the Caribbean, St. Lucia captured by British commanded by General Grant.
• 1781: 35th Regiment Lt. Col. James Cockburn fails to defend St. Eustatia, former Dutch colony, giving up the island to a small French force, claims and seizes the French commander's money, on the false grounds that it was his own.  He was court martialled two years later.
• 1782: King George III issues county names to regiments.  35th Regiment acquires title "Dorsetshire."
• 1783 - 1785: Caribbean and Florida occupation.

The majority of the regiment was made up of "Battalion Companies" or otherwise known as "Hat Companies" because they wore the cocked hats.  These were the common infantry regulars.  The regiment also had two "Flank Companies" which, when the regiment paraded, appeared on the flanks of the battalion.  One the left was the Light Infantry Company and the right, the Grenadier Company.

We have chosen to portray the Grenadier Company of the 35th Regiment of Foot, originally commanded by Captain James Lyon who was killed in action at the Battle of Breed's Hill.

The grenadiers were originally established in the late 17th Century to throw hand-grenades during sieges, one company for every regiment of foot.  The use of the grenade was short proving to be more dangerous than effective.  Instead, the grenadier companies were to be made up of the biggest and smartest soldiers picked from the Battalion Companies to act as the shock troops who would be given the most daunting tasks, reliant on their unwavering courage and steadfast discipline.  As was often the case in times of war, the Flank Companies of various regiments would be taken from their parent unit and formed together to make a Grenadier Battalion or a Light Infantry Battalion.  The 35th Grenadiers were so amalgamated during the American Revolution (1st Battalion of Grenadiers) and thus spent relatively little time with the rest of the regiment while on campaign and also saw the most action.