Fröhlich was born in Marburg in Hesse, Germany, and by 1778 was a Major commanding infantry in the Warasdin district of Croatia. During the War of the Bavarian Succession he headed a surprise attack on the fort at Dittersbach and captured 110 prisoners. In 1783 he became Oberstleutnant (lieutenant colonel) and in 1788 Oberst (colonel). On 27 May 1789 during the war against Turkey he defended Dobroselo with Oberst Weiler for over 10 hours with only 1,500 men against 10,000 enemies.
In 1799 he was made Colonel Proprietor (Inhaber) of Infantry Regiment Nr. 28 and commanded a 14,000 man division in Italy. His command saw action at the Battle of Verona on 26 March 1799 and acted as the Reserve at the Battle of the Trebia on 19 June. He occupied Plaisance, and was at the Battle of Novi on 15 August 1799. He then took command of troops in Tuscany and the Papal States, besieging and eventually capturing Ancona.
From 1803 to 1810 he was Commandant of the Fortress of Olmütz, then went into retirement and died at the age of 74 in Troppau, Silesia.
Clausewitz, Carl von (2020). Napoleon Absent, Coalition Ascendant: The 1799 Campaign in Italy and Switzerland, Volume 1. Trans and ed. Nicholas Murray and Christopher Pringle. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. ISBN978-0-7006-3025-7
Clausewitz, Carl von (2021). The Coalition Crumbles, Napoleon Returns: The 1799 Campaign in Italy and Switzerland, Volume 2. Trans and ed. Nicholas Murray and Christopher Pringle. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. ISBN978-0-7006-3034-9