Frater
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Le Soldat-frater | The Frater
Most surgeons in New France lived in town. In some cases, one or two might be assigned to a local hospital. In other cases, surgeons could reside in large forts, such as Chambly, Saint-Frédéric, Niagara and Detroit. And very occasionally, surgeons would accompany large expeditions, but generally, soldiers posted to remote forts or undertaking raids on New England were left to their own devices. Because of this lack of physicians and surgeons, almost all military companies had a "frater" or soldier with some knowledge of first aid. This soldier usually served as the barber as well, keeping in mind that barbers and surgeons essentially performed the same role for a long period of time in history. The soldier would use surgical lancets (small, very sharp knives) used to perform minor surgery like extracting bullets. Fraters received a small supplement to their pay, on top of their standard soldier’s renumeration.
Known men who held this position: René Arnault dit Lasalle, Pierre Collas, Guillaume Daniel Tête dit Beauregard
Wounded soldier ("Wounded Knee Cavalry", drawing by Frederic Remington, Wikimedia Commons).
Source: Government of Canada, “The Organization of New France: Care Of Body And Soul”, Canadian Military History Gateway (http://www.cmhg.gc.ca/cmh-pmc/page-163-eng.aspx?pedisable=true).