The 7th Missouri Cavalry marched to Flat Creek in February 1863. From there they moved to Rolla, Missouri. The unit took part in operations against Marmaduke's raid to Cape Girardeau from 17 April to 2 May. The regiment was stationed at Pilot Knob until July. The unit was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, District of Southeast Missouri, Department of Missouri in July–August and was at Brownsville, Arkansas on 25 July. The regiment was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Arkansas Expedition, from September 1863 to January 1864. During Frederick Steele's expedition to Little Rock, Arkansas, the 7th Missouri Cavalry was part of Lewis Merrill's 1st Brigade in John Wynn Davidson's 1st Cavalry Division. The other units in the brigade were the 2nd Missouri and 8th Missouri Cavalry Regiments. There were clashes at Grand Prairie on 17 August, Brownsville on 25 August, and Ashley's Mills on 7 September. The climax of the expedition was the Battle of Bayou Fourche on 10 September 1863 when Steele moved his infantry along the north bank of the Arkansas River while Davidson's 6,000 cavalry crossed to the south bank. With John Montgomery Glover's brigade on the right and Merrill's brigade on the left, Davidson's horsemen drove back Marmaduke's cavalry and compelled Sterling Price's Confederates to evacuate Little Rock.