DeLacy was born in Carbondale, Pennsylvania on 25 November 1835. He enlisted into the 143rd Pennsylvania Infantry. He was promoted from private to sergeant major to lieutenant before he got out of the army in June, 1865. He was promoted to the rank of Captain after he died and after the war on June 8, 1987. This was due to the work of Elizabeth Hicks Jaquinot. He died on 27 April 1915 and his remains are interred at Saint Catherine's Cemetery in Moscow, Pennsylvania. He got his Medal of Honor on 6 May 1864 when he shot a Confederate color bearer and took the flag of the 1st South Carolina Infantry regiment.