Horace Goins was born around 1827 in Albemarle County, Virginia. Not much is known about his life before the war, except that he married Mary Frances Jackson, lived in Hillsboro, Ohio, and worked as a farmer.

Goins enlisted as a private in the Union army on June 11, 1863, and mustered in on June 22 in Readville, Massachusetts. His service record describes him as 5 feet, 9 1/2 inches tall, with black hair, black eyes, and a light complexion. He served in Company K of the 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, the sister regiment of the famed 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. Goins rose through the ranks quickly, becoming a corporal on June 22 and sergeant on September 1. Goins served throughout the South, taking part in operations against Fort Sumter and Charleston from September 17 to October 28, as well as other minor expeditions in South Carolina. He was sick in the hospital in Beaufort, South Carolina, from February 12, 1865, until his discharge on June 19. Goins was discharged due to rheumatism, which he contracted in the line of duty.

Following the war, Goins returned to Ohio and lived in Broadwell as a farmer. He divorced his first wife on June 2, 1866, and married his second wife, Barbara Smith, at Big Run on January 15, 1867. Together they had five children: Lydia Jane, born in 1868; William Jasper, born in 1872; Almaria Frances, born in 1876; Franklin, born in 1877; and Gerionia, born in 1880. Following his service, Goins suffered from a "broken down constitution" as well as rheumatism, heart, and mouth diseases. He began receiving a pension of $12 per month in 1890. Goins died of unknown causes on June 20, 1898, in Broadwell. Following his death, his widow Barbara applied for a pension. She began receiving $8 monthly pension in 1898.