Henry J. Gifford was born in Bergen (Genesee County), New York on September 8, 1836. Henry J. Gifford appears in the 1860 federal census, living in the Bergen home of Jerry Crampton and working as an agent for an unidentified business. Gifford enlisted as a private in the 13th New York Infantry at Elmira, New York on May 14, 1861. On August 14, he was commissioned a first lieutenant and transferred to Company D, 33rd New York Infantry; he was promoted to captain on March 13, 1862. The 33rd was mustered out of service on June 2, 1863; the regiment's three-year recruits were organized into a company under Gifford's command and attached to the 49th New York Infantry. Gifford later served on detached duty as ordnance officer in the 2nd Division, VI Corps. He was mustered out with the 49th at Halls Hill, Virginia on June 27, 1865. On February 11, 1864, Gifford married Mary F. Warren (1836-1909), of Aquia Creek (Stafford County), Virginia; the 1870 census shows the Giffords farming and living in Aquia with one young child. By 1900, the Giffords were living in Charles County, Maryland. Henry Gifford died in Norfolk, Virginia on Decmeber 29, 1909, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.