When less than 16 1/2 years old, Robert Gracey became a soldier of the Revolutionary War. In April, 1780, he volunteered for service as a private soldier in a militia company commanded by Captain Purviance. He first saw action on June 20, 1780, at Ramsour's Mill where, early in the day, Locke, with 400 men, surprised and routed 1600 Tories. Davie's Cavalry, which arrived later during the morning, pursued the enemy, killing and capturing many. Robert Gracey was given a horse and participated in the pursuit to the forks of the Yadkin River. His first enlistment, which was for three months, ended shortly thereafter.

Robert next volunteered for service in a calvary unit commanded by Captain William Stewart and was stationed in Mecklenburg County for three months, during which time he participated in raids into South Carolina. On August 6, he participated in the assault on the British post at Hanging Rock, his unit then being a part of the command of General Thomas Sumpter. He was in the Battle of Camden, South Carolina, where the army, under General Horatio Gates, was disastrously defeated by the British under Cornwallis on August 16, 1780. His division retreated before the victorious British Army to Guilford County. He returned home after serving not less than six months during his second tour of duty.

In the spring of 1781 he enlisted as a volunteer in a troop of calvary commanded by Captain John Reid in the regiment commanded by Colonel Wade Hampton. This regiment was a part of the forces of General Thomas Sumpter which captured Fort Mott on May 5, a part of the army under General Nathaniel Greene at the unsuccessful seige of Ninety Six, which lasted until the British were relieved on June 19 by a force from Charleston under Lt. Colonel Lord Rawdon, and a part of the rear guard of Greene's army during its retreat from Ninety Six before superior British forces; Robert Gracey was with his regiment in all these actions.

The surrender of the British Army under Cornwallis at Yorktown, Va., on October 19, 1781, insured victory for the colonies in the struggle for independence, after which there was only one more important campaign. During the winter of 1781-1782, General Anthony Wayne, acting under General Greene, drove the British from Georgia. Robert Gracey was with a detachment under the command of Major Moore at first, and later of Major Habersham, which crossed the Savannah River into Georgia and proceeded through that state, clearing out Tories as far as the Altamahah River. During this, his last tour of duty, he served ten months.3