7th Infantry Regiment was assembled at Camp Butler Columbia, South Carolina, during the spring of 1861. Consisting of men mostly from Edgefield and Abbeville Counties. One company however, Co. L came from Horry County. These men were dubbed "The Horry Volunteers".

Upon formation, the 7th moved to Virginia in June. It was formed into a brigade with the Second, Third, and Eighth South Carolina. After fighting in Bonham's Brigade at First Manassas, the unit served under Generals Kershaw, Conner, and Kennedy. It participated in the campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia from the Seven Days' Battles to Gettysburg, then accompanied Longstreet to Georgia.

The 7th was active at Chickamauga and Knoxville, returned to Virginia, and sawaction at The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor. It continued the fight in the Shenandoah Valley with Early and ended the war in North Carolina. This regiment totaled 581 officers and men in April, 1862 and sustained 82 casualties at Savage Station and 40 at Malvern Hill. During the Maryland Campaign, there were 13 killed and 100 wounded of 466 at Maryland Heights and 23 killed and 117 wounded of the 268 at Sharpsburg. It lost 4 killed, 57 wounded, and 61 missing at Fredericksburg, twenty-seven percent of the 408 engaged at Gettysburg, and 2 killed and 12 wounded at Bentonville. On March 23, 1865, there were 222 present for duty.

The regiment was consolidated with the 15th Infantry Regiment and parts of the 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 7th Infantry Battalions Reserves and designated as the 7th Infantry Regiment Consolidated at Smithfield, North Carolina on Apr 9, 1865. It then surrendered with the rest of General Johnston's Army later that month. Because of its high casualty rate the regiment was known as "The Bloody 7th". The field officers were Colonels D. Wyatt Aiken and Thomas G. Bacon; Lieutenant Colonels Elbert Bland, Robert A. Fair, Elijah J. Goggans, and Emmet Seibels; and Majors John S. Hard and William C. White.