| Henry Harrison Bingham | |
| [[Image:File:Henry Harrison Bingham.png|center|200px|border]]Henry Harrison Bingham | |
| Born: | December 4, 1841 |
|---|---|
| Place of Birth: | {{{place of birth}}} |
| Died: | March 22, 1912 (aged 70) |
| Place of Death: | {{{place of death}}} |
| Nickname: | |
| Birth Name: | {{{birth name}}} |
| Allegiance: | United States of America Union |
| Participation(s): | {{{participations}}} |
| Branch: | Union Army |
| Service Years: | {{{service years}}} |
| Rank: | Brigadier General |
| Service number : | {{{servicenumber}}} |
| Unit: | 140th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry |
| Commands: | |
| Battles: | American Civil War *Battle of the Wilderness |
| Awards: | Medal of Honor |
| Relations: | |
| Other work: | {{{otherwork}}} |
Henry Harrison Bingham (December 4, 1841 – March 22, 1912) was a Union Army officer in the American Civil War, who received United States militaries highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Battle of the Wilderness.
After graduating from college Bingham accepted a commission as a first lieutenant for service in the American Civil War. While participating in the war he fought in several battles and served as Judge advocate.
After the Civil War ended he was a long-time Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.
Early life[]
Henry H. Bingham was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and graduated from Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1862, where he became a member of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity. He later graduated from the law department of Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania.[1]
Military service[]
Civil War[]
Bingham enlisted in the Union Army and received a commission as a first lieutenant in the 140th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry on August 22, 1862. During the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863, he was serving as Captain and Judge-Advocate on the staff of major general Winfield Scott Hancock's II Corps.[2] During the battle he witnessed Pickett's Charge, and was near the "Angle" where the Confederates reached the "High Water Mark". He received the personal effects from the mortally wounded Confederate Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistead and carried the news to General Hancock, Armistead's friend from before the war.[3] Bingham was a Mason (Chartiers Lodge #297, Canonsburg, PA), and the story of how he provided assistance to the dying fellow Mason, General Armistead, was used in Masonic literature, and commemorated with the Friend to Friend Masonic Memorial at Gettysburg National Cemetery.[4]
During the Battle of the Wilderness during the Virginia Overland Campaign, on May 6, 1864, as captain of Company G, 140th Pennsylvania Infantry, he "rallied and led into action a portion of the troops who had given way under fierce assaults of the enemy."[5] He was awarded a Medal of Honor on August 26, 1893, for these actions.
Bingham eventually became a brevet brigadier general of volunteers on April 9, 1865, as the war was winding down. He mustered out of the service and returned home to Philadelphia in mid-1865.
Postbellum[]
Henry Bingham was appointed postmaster of Philadelphia by President Andrew Johnson in March 1867 and served until December 1872, when he resigned to accept the clerkship of the courts of oyer and terminer and quarter sessions of the peace in Philadelphia. He was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions of 1872 though 1900. He was elected to Congress as a Republican in 1878, and served until his death. In Congress, he served as Chairman of the Committee on the Post Office and Post Roads, and on the Committee on Expenditures in the Post Office Department.
He died in Pennsylvania March 22, 1912 and is buried in Laurel Hill Cemetery Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[6] His grave can be found in section Y, lot 107.[6]
Honors and awards[]
Medal of Honor citation[]
Rank and organization: Captain, Company G, 140th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Wilderness, Va., May 6, 1864. Entered service at: Cannonsburg, Pa. Born: December 4, 1841, Philadelphia, Pa. Date of issue: August 31, 1893.
Citation:
Rallied and led into action a portion of the troops who had given way under the fierce assaults of the enemy.[5]
Other honors[]
Bingham County, Idaho was named in his honor.
See also[]
- List of Medal of Honor recipients
- List of American Civil War Medal of Honor recipients: A–F
- List of American Civil War generals
References[]
- ↑
- Henry H. Bingham at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on November 7, 2007
- ↑ Order of battle
- ↑ Brother's War description
- ↑ Masons at the Battle of Gettysburg
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Civil War (A-L); Bingham, Henry Harrison entry". Medal of Honor recipients. United States Army Center of Military History. July 16, 2007. http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/civwaral.html. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Henry H. Bingham at Find a Grave Retrieved on November 7, 2007
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