Henry Lyman Vaill was a son of Cornwall shoemaker Philander Vaill and Urena (Johnson) Vaill. He enlisted with the 19th C.V.I. (later the 2nd C.H.A.) on August 7, 1862 and was promoted to Corporal on March 13, 1864.

At the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 19, 1864, Vaill was “shot in the neck and lungs about sunrise and remained all day in the enemy’s hands, who robbed him of everything.” He died from his wounds in Taylor Hospital at Winchester on November 4, 1864.

His brothers, John Randolph Vaill and George Washington Vaill, also served during the Civil War.