Christian Fast was born in Maryland in 1762, the youngest son of German immigrants, Johann Nicklaus Fast and Cadarina Dörner, although he spent much of his youth in Pennsylvania/Virginia. He joined the Virginia Militia in 1780, as a substitute for his brother Jacob, and helped man a local fort for a short while. In mid-1781 he joined the Pennsylvania Militia, soon becoming part of an expedition headed by General George Rogers Clark (the older brother of William Clark, of Lewis & Clark fame), under the direct command of Colonel Archibald Lochry. The purpose of the expedition was to capture Fort Detroit, while subduing some of the intervening Native American tribes who had sided with the British. Christian, however, along with many of his fellows, was very soon captured by the Delaware India