Dee ihe ọzọ maka paragraf a - N'afọ 1861, mgbe ọ dị afọ iri na itoolu, Roberts sonyere dịka onye agha na Company C nke 19th Regiment North Carolina Infantry, nke a ga-emecha họpụta dị ka 2nd Regiment NC Cavalry. N'ịbụ onye jere ozi nke ọma n'oge ọrụ ndị agha na North Carolina, mana na-enweghị ọzụzụ agha ọ bụla, e buliri ya n'ọkwa nke abụọ na August 30, 1861. Na Septemba 13, 1862, e buliri Roberts n'ọkwa onye isi ndị agha. E zigara ndị agha Roberts na Virginia n'oge mgbụsị akwụkwọ nke afọ ahụ ma sonye n'ọtụtụ agha, n'etiti ha: Agha Fredericksburg, Agha Suffolk, na Agha Brandy Station. Na Nọvemba 13, 1863, a kpaliri Roberts ka ọ bụrụ onye isi na onye isi tupu oge opupu ihe ubi nke 1864, mgbe ọ lụrụ ọgụ na ndị agha North Carolina nke William Henry Fitzhugh Lee. E buliri ya n'ọkwa Colonel na June 1864 ma n'oge Siege nke Petersburg, e nyere ya iwu nke 2nd Regiment NC Cavalry. Roberts duru ndị agha na-alụ ọgụ megide ndị agha Union, gbadata, merie oghere egbe ma jide ọtụtụ ndị agha Union na Agha nke Abụọ nke Ream's Station
n'Ọgọst 25, 1864. Na February 23, 1865, e buliri Roberts n'ọkwa Brigadier General. Dị ka ọdịnala si kwuo, Ọchịagha Robert E. Lee nyere Roberts uwe aka nke Lee iji kwanyere Roberts ùgwù maka ọrụ ọma ya. Roberts gara n'ihu na-eduzi ndị agha ya n'agha nke ise Forks, ma mesịa nyefee onwe ya n'agha nke Appomattox Court House, na Eprel 9, 1865.