The Seventh U.S. Infantry was organized under the act of Congress approved July 16, 1798, with William Bentley as Lieutenant Colonel Commandant. After an existence of less than two years, the regiment was honorably mustered out of the service on June 15, 1800. The regiment was again organized on May 3, 1808, with William Russell as colonel. The first engagement in which any part to the regiment participated, and which is the first battle inscribed on its colors, was at Fort Harrison, Ohio, on September 4-5, 1812. On the September 3, the fort, under the command of Captain Zachary Taylor, was attacked by a large band of Indians. This engagement was followed by one at Viller’s Plantation on December 23, 1814, and this engagement was soon followed by the Battle of New Orleans on January 9, 1815.

The Seventh Infantry was stationed at Fort Gibson, Arkansas, near the confluence of the Grand and Arkansas rivers in modern-day Oklahoma, for a number of years, beginning in 1831. Fort Gibson, originally named Cantonment Gibson in honor of Colonel George Gibson, was first garrisoned by the 7th Infantry in 1824. Ten year later, in 1834, the fort was designated Headquarters of the Southwestern Frontier. In its new role the post, renamed Fort Gibson in 1832, served as a staging area for several military expeditions sent to explore the western region and to seek peace between the Plains Indians and the resettled tribes. Fort Gibson continued to be an active post until 1857, when the troops were withdrawn and the buildings and land were turned over to the Cherokee Nation.