Lins was born in Wachstedt, a small municipality in what is now the state of Thuringia in central Germany. In 1857, then age 17, his family immigrated to the United States. His family purchased a farm near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he worked and resided until 1859. In 1859, he went to St. Louis, and then to New Orleans, where he remained until the outbreak of the American Civil War. He returned to Milwaukee, and three days after his arrival, he volunteered for service in the Union Army. He was enrolled in the 5th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment at Camp Randall, and, in July 1861, marched for the eastern theater of the war. Battles he took part in include the Battle of Lee's Mill, the Battle of Williamsburg, the Battle of Savage's Station, the Battle of White Oak Swamp, the Battle of Malvern Hill, the Battle of Crampton's Gap, the Battle of Antietam, the Battle of Fredericksburg, the Battle of Gettysburg, the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, as well as the Battle of Cold Harbor, during which he was severely injured. After the war, he resided at Eagle, Wisconsin, in Waukesha County.