Harry was born in Oswego, New York, on the 27th of October, 1864, and he enlisted in the US Marine Corps on the 15th of June, 1898, near Boston, Massachusetts. Before being deployed to the Philippines in September of 1899, he was stationed at the Marine Barracks in the New York Navy Yard. Harry was deployed to China from the Philippines in response to the Boxer Rebellion and it was his actions about two weeks after arriving in China that would earn him the Medal of Honor. The citation reads:

In the presence of the enemy during the battle near Tientsin, China, July 13, 1900, Adriance distinguished himself by meritorious conduct.

While further details of his actions are not available, we do know that Harry stayed in China until 10th of October, 1900, and returned to the US Naval Base at Cavite in the Philippines. He received his Medal of Honor on the 24th of March, 1902 before transferring back to the Brooklyn Navy Yard and discharging at the rank of Sergeant a year later. Harry re-enlisted three weeks later in Buffalo, New York and would later be demoted down to Private for theft charges and received a bad conduct discharge. An attempt to change this discharge was made in the 1980s by the Marine Corps League in Oswego and in 1981, a small park was named in his honor listing his rank as Corporal.

Harry Chapman Adriance was 70 years old when he died on the 25th of January, 1934, from gallstones and jaundice. He was cremated, with his ashes given to his wife, Mazie.