It was camped north of Collierville, Tennessee, when Confederate General James Ronald Chalmers attacked the garrison with 2,500 troops on 11 October 1863.

A portion of the troops circled around the north side of the town and attacked the camp of the 7th Illinois Cavalry and routed them, capturing and burning their supplies.

The 7th Illinois Cavalry was able to regain their reputation when General Chalmers repeated the attack on Collierville on 3 November 1863.

[2] In June 1865, just after the war, the unit was (apparently without horses) in Mississippi, 'scattered along the Mobile and Ohio railroad.

The regiment suffered 5 officers and 59 enlisted men who were killed in action or who died of their wounds and 3 officers and 267 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 334 fatalities.