Pierre André Frier was the son of Jean Antoine Frier (1804-1871) and Rose Agathe Roche (1811-1888). He studied music at the National Conservatory in Paris and before age 20 joined the body of French Zouaves, in which he came to hold the rank of captain. He fought with the zouaves in the Crimean War, and later in the Italian campaign, fighting in the Battle of Magenta and Solferino, being wounded in the latter with a sword inflicted by a member of the Austrian cavalry, which forced him to leave the active service.