Horace Ellis was born on May 23, 1843, in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. He was living in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin at the start of the war.

On July 10, 1861 he enlisted Company A of the 7th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, becoming a corporal. On February 7, 1863 he was detailed to Battery B, 4th United States Artillery, returing to the 7th on January 15, 1864.

Ellis was awarded the Medal of Honor “for action at Weldon Rail Road Station, Virginia on August 21, 1864. Captured the flag of the 16th Mississippi.”

He was wounded on March 31, 1865 at Gravelly Run, Virginia, and mustered out with the rank of sergeant on July 3, 1865.

He died on June 27, 1867, in Eagle Point, Chippewa County, Wisconsin, and is buried there in O’Neil Creek Cemetery.