Henry du Pont (1812-1889) was an American military officer and son of Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828). He was born in 1812 at Eleutherian Mills near Wilmington, Delaware. He attended the Mount Airy Military School in Germantown, Pennsylvania, from 1823 to 1829 and then went to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, graduating in 1833. As a Second Lieutenant, he joined the 4th Artillery at Fort Monroe in Virginia. After a year of active duty, du Pont resigned his commission and joined the family business in 1834. A few months later, his father died, and du Pont with his elder brother, Alfred du Pont (1798-1856), and brother-in-law, James Antoine Bidermann (1790-1865), took over management of the company.

In 1837, du Pont married Louisa Gerhard (1816-1900). The couple had nine children, including Henry Algernon (1838-1926), Evelina (1840-1938), Ellen Eugenia (1843-1907), Louisa Gerhard (1845-1863), Sara (1847-1876), Victorine Elizabeth (1849-1931), Sophie Madeleine (1851-1931), Mary Constance (1854), and William (1855-1928).

In 1841, du Pont was on the staff of the Governor of Delaware, and from 1846 to 1861 was Adjutant-General for the State of Delaware. In 1861, he was made Major General of the State troops, commanding Delaware's volunteers; thereafter, he was known as "The General." It is said that he, as much as anybody, kept Delaware on the Union side during the Civil War.

Du Pont was active in Delaware politics, first as a Whig and then as a Republican. He also farmed and became the third owner of Winterthur, one of his family's estates.