To form the regiment, a cavalry battalion commanded by Alexander E. Steen was consolidated with a unit of recruits led by John M. Johnson and elements of the Missouri State Guard.

[3] Early in the action, Parsons' Brigade was positioned on the left of the Confederate main line, with the 10th Missouri Infantry on the right.

The 10th Missouri Infantry engaged the 2nd Indiana Battery; the regiment suffered heavily from canister fire.

Towards the end of June, Price then sent his men towards Helena, Arkansas, in order to attack a Union force stationed there.

On July 4, during the Battle of Helena, the 10th Missouri Infantry and the rest of Parsons' Brigade attacked a position known as Graveyard Hill.

The 10th Missouri Infantry saw no action at Little Rock and left the city on September 10, moving to Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

In early April, a Union army under command of Major General Nathaniel P. Banks began moving towards Shreveport, Louisiana, in the Red River Campaign.

On April 9, Burns' Brigade joined the command of Major General Richard Taylor at Pleasant Hill, Louisiana.

[9] The division then went on the offensive, marching north towards Camden, Arkansas, to attack a garrison of troops commanded by Major General Frederick Steele.

[12] The battle had been fought in a rainstorm; many of the 10th Missouri Infantry's battlefield maneuvers were completed in knee-deep water.

The 10th Missouri Infantry had lost three men killed and eight wounded in the fighting; one of the slain was Lieutenant Colonel Simon Harris.