Born in Marseilles, France, Morse was a sergeant in Company "I" of the 62nd New York State Volunteers (Anderson Zouaves) and was awarded his Medal of Honor on January 14, 1890, for gallantry at the Battle of the Wilderness, Virginia, on May 5, 1864.
Morse enlisted as a private in the Union Army on June 24, 1861 at New York City, and was mustered into Company "I" of the Anderson Zouaves Infantry Regiment (later the 62nd N. Y. S. V.) on June 30, 1861.