The regiment fought with Jackson in the Seven Days Battles in the Richmond, Virginia area. Thereafter, Cantey was detached and sent to Mobile, Alabama from January 1863 through April 1864, where he organized a brigade of three Alabama regiments and one Mississippi regiment. Then, Cantey was transferred to the Army of Tennessee. He was appointed a brigadier general to rank from January 8, 1863. He was frequently absent from his command due to illness but also led a division for short period of time in May and June 1864. His brigade fought in the Atlanta Campaign and Franklin–Nashville Campaign (Hood's Tennessee Campaign). When present, he led the brigade with distinction, such as when his brigade held off a much larger Union force at the Battle of Resaca, Georgia.