Herbert Henry Davis Peirce was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 11, 1849, the son of Benjamin Peirce and his wife Sarah, who was a daughter of Elijah H. Mills.

In 1894, Peirce joined the United States Legation in Saint Petersburg as First Secretary, and occasionally acting as Chargé d'affaires.

In this capacity, he made arrangements for the 1905 conference in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan at the end of the Russo-Japanese War that resulted in the Treaty of Portsmouth.

Ambassador Peirce presented his credentials on August 13, 1906, and served there until May 30, 1911.

He then served as counsel to the United States in American and British claims arbitration.