[1] In 1765, Polk participated in the War of Sugar Creek,[2] in which local settlers took up arms against large private landholders who were speculating on real estate in the area of what is now Charlotte.

During that conflict, speculator Henry McCulloh attempted to have a large tract of land that had been granted to him by the Crown surveyed and subdivided.

[5] Charlotte had been founded at the crossroad of a small trail with the Indian Trading Path near where that great thoroughfare entered the lands occupied by the Catawba people.

[7] Polk was then elected a member of the Third North Carolina Provincial Congress, which established a government in the absence of Royal Governor Josiah Martin.

[7] In late 1775 Polk participated as a colonel of Patriot militia in the Snow Campaign, [7] which sought to suppress Loyalist recruiting in the South Carolina Upcountry.

Polk and his unit fought at the Battle of Brandywine and wintered at Valley Forge with General Washington's main army.

[14] Polk also acted as commissary for the Salisbury district, one of North Carolina's militia recruiting divisions, often using his personal assets and credit to provide supplies for the Patriot cause.

[15][7] Summary of service record:[16] In 1783 and 1784, Polk was elected to the North Carolina Council of State, which assisted the governors in performing their executive duties.