The brigade was organized as part of the 15th Cavalry Division in February 1917 at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

[2] The brigade's initial wartime service was patrolling the United States–Mexico border, until demobilization on 14 July 1919, at Brownsville, Texas.

The brigade fought as infantry in the Pacific Theater of World War II, as did the entire 1st Cavalry Division.

In April 1998, the brigade was alerted for peace enforcement duty in Bosnia and Herzegovina as part of Stabilization Forces (SFOR) 4 on Operation Joint Forge.

It was responsible for securing the eastern part of Baghdad, specifically Sadr City and the surrounding area.

After a grueling year of combat operations, mostly against Shia Militias, the 1st Brigade redeployed to Ft Hood in March 2005.

In November 2006 the 1st deployed yet again to Iraq for OIF 06–08, this time securing the area around Taji 30 miles north of Baghdad.