Horace Garrigus was born around 1844 in New Jersey to Isaac Garrigus and Sarah Shepard. His father was a farmer. The family lived in Morris, New Jersey, and Garrigus attended school there. He probably moved to Waterbury, Connecticut, around 1861, and he enlisted in the Union army on September 23, 1861. He mustered in as a private in Company E of the 8th Connecticut Infantry two days later. As he explained to his father, he volunteered to help “save the union.” He was severely wounded in the hip in the Battle of Antietam, but he eventually recovered and rejoined his regiment. He was promoted to corporal on May 1, 1865, and he mustered out in Lynchburg, Virginia, on December 12, 1865.
Garrigus returned to Connecticut after the war, and he married Maria Daly there on April 3, 1867. They had at least three children: Curtis, born around 1872; Clarence, born around 1874; and Frank, born around 1876. The family lived in Waterbury, and Garrigus worked as a moulding maker and carpenter. He died in Waterbury on December 8, 1922.