He was living in Narragansett in 1777 when he ran away from his enslaver Elihu Champlen and served in various capacities in the Continental Army for eight months during the American Revolutionary War as a waggoner and servant to John Skidmore Wagon master.
Joshua Swann took up residence in Milton, Saratoga County, New York, and brought along Jehu Grant.
In 1832, the United States Congress enacted the first comprehensive Pension Act, which granted an annual stipend to any veteran of the Revolutionary War who could prove his service.
To receive the funds, ex-soldiers had to tell their stories to a local court reporter, who sent the records to Washington, D.C. for disposition.
The following is an excerpt from the letter he sent to J. L. Edward, the then Commissioner of Pensions: Your servant begs leave to state that he forwarded to the War Department a declaration founded on the pension Act of June 1832 praying to be allowed a pension (If his memory serves him) for ten Months service in the American Army of the revolutionary war — that he enlisted as a soldier but was put to the service of a teamster in the summer & a waiter in the winter.Grant's application was denied, as was a subsequent plea.