Freewheelin Franklin (@FreewheelinFranklin)

Your 3rd great-grandfather, Christopher Zumwalt, served as a Private in the Virginia Militia during the American Revolutionary War.Because the western frontier was a dangerous, fluid environment during the Revolution, his service spanned two distinct regions:1. The Virginia Shenandoah Valley & Augusta CountyChristopher first served alongside his brothers (Jacob, Adam, and John) under Captain John McCoy in the Virginia Militia. At the time, their family home was in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia. His early service primarily involved defending frontier settlements from pro-British and allied Native American raids along the Allegheny frontier.2. The Kentucky Frontier (Kentucky County, Virginia)In 1778, Christopher officially registered for extended militia service and pushed further west into what was then considered the westernmost territory of Virginia (now Kentucky).The Unit: He served under Captain Richard May and Colonel John Bowman in the Kentucky County Militia.The Mission: He was stationed in the vicinity of early frontier strongholds like Boonesborough and Harrodsburg. His unit's primary historical record is preserved in the famous George Rogers Clark Papers. Christopher and his unit fought to defend the isolated Kentucky settlements from heavy, British-backed tribal offensives launched out of the Northwest Territory.By the close of the war in 1781, Christopher and his brothers had established a temporary home along the Licking River near Lexington, Kentucky, before ultimately packing up their wagons and moving across the Mississippi River to pioneer Missouri in the late 1790s.