On 9/9/1775, Joseph Harden (aka Joseph Hardin) was commissioned as a Major under Col. Thomas Wade in the newly-created Salisbury District Minutemen.

On 12/21/1775, this regiment was renamed to the 1st Battalion of Salisbury District Minutemen and was now commanded by Col. Griffith Rutherford. Maj. Joseph Harden continued in this unit until all Minutemen regiments were disbanded on 4/10/1776.

During 1776, Joseph Harden moved to Tryon County, and sometime during that year he was commissioned as a Captain under Col. William Graham in the Tryon County Regiment of Militia. Capt. Joseph Harden led his company in the Cherokee Expedition of August to November of 1776.

On 11/25/1776, Capt. Joseph Harden was assigned to Col. Francis Locke in the 2nd Battalion of Volunteers, a special regiment hastily created in anticipation of a British invasion that never materialized. They mostly drilled in and around Camden, SC until they were disbanded on 4/10/1777. Capt. Joseph Harden returned to his former unit, the Tryon County Regiment of Militia.

On 2/12/1779, Joseph Harden was commissioned as a Major under Col. Benjamin Cleveland in the Wilkes County Regiment of Militia. It is unclear if he moved to Wilkes County or if this was an assignment he sought. Maj. Joseph Harden was with the Wilkes County Regiment of Militia at the battles of Ramseur's Mill (6/20/1780) and Kings Mountain, SC (10/7/1780).

On 4/26/1783, the NC General Assembly created Greene County from part of Washington County, and soon thereafter they commissioned Joseph Harden as the Colonel/Commandant over the Greene County Regiment of Militia, a position he retained until the end of the war.