Capt. Henderson was a son of Gen. Archibald Henderson, "father of the United States Marine Corps," and a grandson of Alexander Henderson of Dumphries, Va., one of the leaders in the revolutionary war, who, with James Madison, made the report of the Virginia and Maryland commission in 1785 which led to the convention at Annapolis that framed the Constitution of the United States.

At an early age he entered the service of the Confederate States Army, and shortly rose to the command of the 1st Virginia Regulars, known as the Irish Battalion. He served with distinguished gallantry through the four years' strife, and surrendered at the head of his command at Appomattox. He was severely wounded at the second battle of Manassas, where he defended a critical position in assisting General Bradley Johnson. In this battle his Virginia military Institute class ring was shot from his hand. Thirty-two years afterward it was found and restored to him. He graduated with honors at the Virginia Military Institute, and afterward served as a professor at that institution.