Background
Frick was born in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, a fourth-generation descendant of Swiss immigrants.
Frick was born in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, a fourth-generation descendant of Swiss immigrants.
In June 1846, following the outbreak of the Mexican-American War, he was commissioned a Third Lieutenant in the 3rd Ohio Infantry Regiment. When the war ended, he received a regular army commission in the 11th United States Infantry Regiment. He served as an instructor at Fort McHenry, and was a delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention.
On May 3, 1863, at Chancellorsville, Virginia, Colonel Frick recovered the colors of his regiment in a hand-to-hand engagement, after the flag had been taken by Confederate forces.
Frick later led the 27th Pennsylvania Emergency Militia during the Gettysburg Campaign. His men successfully burned the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge to prevent its capture by Confederate infantry under Brigade
General John B. Gordon. Later, he consulted with Colonel
Henry Pleasants regarding digging a mine under Confederate entrenchments during the 1864 Siege of St. Petersburg that resulted in the Battle of the Crater. After the war, Frick returned to Pottsville, Pennsylvania.