Arthur Bingham
Encyclopedia
Arthur Batt Bingham was an officer in the Royal Navy
, rising to the rank of post captain. He is remembered chiefly for his command of HMS Little Belt
, when the Little Belt Affair
occurred, just prior to the War of 1812
.
(1777) and rector of Hemel Hempstead
(1778) – later archdeacon of London (1789–1813) and chaplain to George III (1792); and his wife Agnata (aka Agnes), daughter of Liebert Dörrien, a merchant of Fenchurch Street, London and of West Ham, Essex. Arthur entered the Navy, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on 1 May 1804. By early 1809 he was first lieutenant aboard HMS Nereide, then on the Cape of Good Hope Station
under Captain Robert Corbet
t.
and Réunion
. In August Corbett began an attack on Sainte-Rose
on the eastern side of Réunion, using grapeshot
to fire on two batteries
overlooking the harbour. The sloop
HMS Sapphire, under the command of Acting-Captain Bertie Cornelius Cator, came alongside and fired a broadside, silencing the enemy guns. Bingham then led a party of men from Nereide onto the shore, narrowly avoiding being killed by a piece of shot that killed the marine next to him. He and his men captured the French governor, spiked the six French cannon, burnt their carriages and blew up a store of rockets. He then laid a train of powder to blow up over 100 barrels of gunpowder contained in a bomb-proof magazine
, but it exploded sooner than expected. Bingham was blown 'a considerable distance', and suffered some wounds and burns. Corbett made a list of demands from the French for re-provisioning, and then took off the enemy's guns and sank them in deep water. After the successful conclusion of the operation Corbett wrote reports praising Cator and Bingham.
Bingham was again in action off Réunion, when Nereide was part of Josias Rowley
's fleet to retake the French islands. Bingham led the action to capture the French frigate Caroline, and later presented her commander's sword to Corbett. His talent noticed, Bingham was given command of HMS Caledon at the end of 1809 and sailed her to England.
sloop Little Belt
, and sailed to Halifax
, and later to the Caribbean. On 19 April 1811 he was ordered by Rear-Admiral Herbert Sawyer
to deliver instructions to Captain Samuel Pechell
of HMS Guerriere
, then somewhere off the North American coast. If unable to locate Pechell, Bingham was ordered to cruise off the coast, protecting British trade until his supplies were exhausted, at which point he was to put into Halifax and await further orders. He was warned
at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay
, a strange sail was sighted in the distance. Bingham made signal 275 (calling on a strange ship, if a British warship, to show her number). The other ship did not reply, and Bingham concluded that the mystery ship was a frigate
of the United States Navy
. He hoisted his colours and began to round Cape Hatteras
. The frigate followed, closing Little Belt, and appeared to be trying to manoeuvre into a position to rake the smaller British ship. Bingham wore ship three times to foil the American's attempts, while calling for the frigate to identify herself. Each time though the American demanded the same of Bingham. The frigate, actually the 44-gun USS President
under Commodore
John Rodgers
, then, according to Bingham, opened fire on the Little Belt. Bingham returned fire and an engagement began, lasting three-quarters of an hour. The President was observed to have a fire onboard and drew away.
The President then returned, and asked if Bingham had struck. Bingham replied that he had not, and the President again withdrew. A messenger was sent out to the damaged Little Belt by Rodgers the following morning, lamenting the 'unfortunate affair', and insisting that he would not have attacked, had Little Belt not fired first. Bingham denied this, and turned down Rodgers' offer of putting into an American port for repairs, instead making for Halifax, hampered by a gale on the second day of the voyage which caused leaks in the already-damaged ship. Little Belt had nine killed outright, and had 23 wounded, some mortally. Two died the day after the battle. Rodgers claimed that the British ship had been mistaken for a larger frigate, and continued to claim that Bingham had fired first. Bingham wrote in his report
The Admiralty
refused to try Bingham by court-martial
, and the matter was never successfully concluded, both governments supporting their respective captains' version of events. Bingham was promoted to post captain on 7 February 1812.
(the future King William IV) arranged for Bingham to be esquire to the proxy at the installation of Richard Goodwin Keats
to the Order of the Bath
. Bingham continued in the Navy, being appointed to command HMS Myrtle on 18 November 1813, followed by being made flag captain
to Rear-Admiral Robert Otway
aboard HMS Dover on 25 September 1819. He was appointed to HMS Thetis on 9 November 1826. He drowned in 1830.
. The fourth son was Francis Robert Bertie Bingham, and the daughter was Emily Agnata Harriet Bingham.
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, rising to the rank of post captain. He is remembered chiefly for his command of HMS Little Belt
HMS Little Belt (1807)
Lillebælt was a Danish 22-gun warship launched in 1801. The Danes surrendered her to the Royal Navy in 1807 and she became the 20-gun post ship HMS Little Belt. The American USS President fired on her during peacetime, believing her to be , which had recently abducted a sailor from USS Spitfire,...
, when the Little Belt Affair
Little Belt Affair
The Little Belt Affair was a naval battle on the night of May 16, 1811. It involved the United States frigate USS President and the British sixth-rate HMS Little Belt, a sloop-of-war, which had originally been the Danish ship Lillebælt, before being captured by the British in the 1807 Battle of...
occurred, just prior to the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
.
Family and early life
Bingham was born in 1784, the second son of the Ven. William Bingham, D.D. (1743–1819), vicar of Great GaddesdenGreat Gaddesden
Great Gaddesden is a village and civil parish in Dacorum Hundred in Hertfordshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, north of Hemel Hempstead. The parish borders to Flamstead, Hemel Hempstead, Nettleden and Little Gaddesden and also to Studham in Bedfordshire.The Church St. John the...
(1777) and rector of Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead is a town in Hertfordshire in the East of England, to the north west of London and part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2001 Census was 81,143 ....
(1778) – later archdeacon of London (1789–1813) and chaplain to George III (1792); and his wife Agnata (aka Agnes), daughter of Liebert Dörrien, a merchant of Fenchurch Street, London and of West Ham, Essex. Arthur entered the Navy, and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on 1 May 1804. By early 1809 he was first lieutenant aboard HMS Nereide, then on the Cape of Good Hope Station
Cape of Good Hope Station
The Cape of Good Hope Station was one of the geographical divisions into which the British Royal Navy divided its worldwide responsibilities. It was formally the units and establishments responsible to the Commander-in-Chief, Cape of Good Hope....
under Captain Robert Corbet
Robert Corbet
Captain Robert Corbet RN , often spelled Corbett, was an officer of the British Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars who was killed in action in highly controversial circumstances...
t.
Lieutenant of the Nereide
Nereide sailed from Simon's Bay on 1 May and cruised off the French possessions of MauritiusMauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
and Réunion
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
. In August Corbett began an attack on Sainte-Rose
Sainte-Rose, Réunion
Sainte-Rose is a commune on the east coast of the French island and department of Réunion. The Pointe des Cascades, in the commune, is the easternmost part of the island and also the easternmost part of France and of the European Union...
on the eastern side of Réunion, using grapeshot
Grapeshot
In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of shot that is not a one solid element, but a mass of small metal balls or slugs packed tightly into a canvas bag. It was used both in land and naval warfare. When assembled, the balls resembled a cluster of grapes, hence the name...
to fire on two batteries
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
overlooking the harbour. The sloop
Sloop-of-war
In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...
HMS Sapphire, under the command of Acting-Captain Bertie Cornelius Cator, came alongside and fired a broadside, silencing the enemy guns. Bingham then led a party of men from Nereide onto the shore, narrowly avoiding being killed by a piece of shot that killed the marine next to him. He and his men captured the French governor, spiked the six French cannon, burnt their carriages and blew up a store of rockets. He then laid a train of powder to blow up over 100 barrels of gunpowder contained in a bomb-proof magazine
Magazine (artillery)
Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...
, but it exploded sooner than expected. Bingham was blown 'a considerable distance', and suffered some wounds and burns. Corbett made a list of demands from the French for re-provisioning, and then took off the enemy's guns and sank them in deep water. After the successful conclusion of the operation Corbett wrote reports praising Cator and Bingham.
Bingham was again in action off Réunion, when Nereide was part of Josias Rowley
Josias Rowley
Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, 1st Baronet GCB, GCMG , known as "The Sweeper of the Seas", was a naval officer who commanded the campaign that captured the French Indian Ocean islands of Réunion and Mauritius in 1810.-Naval career:...
's fleet to retake the French islands. Bingham led the action to capture the French frigate Caroline, and later presented her commander's sword to Corbett. His talent noticed, Bingham was given command of HMS Caledon at the end of 1809 and sailed her to England.
Commander of Little Belt
By November 1810 Bingham was given the command of the 20-gun sixth-rateSixth-rate
Sixth rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for small warships mounting between 20 and 24 nine-pounder guns on a single deck, sometimes with guns on the upper works and sometimes without.-Rating:...
sloop Little Belt
HMS Little Belt (1807)
Lillebælt was a Danish 22-gun warship launched in 1801. The Danes surrendered her to the Royal Navy in 1807 and she became the 20-gun post ship HMS Little Belt. The American USS President fired on her during peacetime, believing her to be , which had recently abducted a sailor from USS Spitfire,...
, and sailed to Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
, and later to the Caribbean. On 19 April 1811 he was ordered by Rear-Admiral Herbert Sawyer
Herbert Sawyer
Admiral Sir Herbert Sawyer KCB was an officer of the Royal Navy who saw service during the American Revolution, the French Revolutionary War, the War of 1812 and the Napoleonic Wars. He eventually rose to the rank of Admiral....
to deliver instructions to Captain Samuel Pechell
Samuel Pechell
Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel John Brooke Pechell, 3rd Baronet CB, KCH, FRS was a prominent British Royal Navy officer of the early nineteenth century...
of HMS Guerriere
HMS Guerriere (1806)
HMS Guerriere was a 38-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy, which had previously sailed with the French Navy as the Guerrière. She became famous for her fight against ....
, then somewhere off the North American coast. If unable to locate Pechell, Bingham was ordered to cruise off the coast, protecting British trade until his supplies were exhausted, at which point he was to put into Halifax and await further orders. He was warned
You are to be particularly careful, not to give any just cause of offence to the government or the subjects of the United States of America...Bingham duly sailed from Bermuda, but being unable to locate the Guerriere, commenced cruising off the coast.
The Little Belt affair
On the morning of 10 May, as Little Belt was some 48 miles east of Cape CharlesCape Charles
Cape Charles may refer to:*Cape Charles, Virginia, a town in Northampton County, Virginia*Cape Charles , headland or cape in Northampton County, Virginia...
at the entrance to Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
, a strange sail was sighted in the distance. Bingham made signal 275 (calling on a strange ship, if a British warship, to show her number). The other ship did not reply, and Bingham concluded that the mystery ship was a frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
of the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. He hoisted his colours and began to round Cape Hatteras
Cape Hatteras
Cape Hatteras is a cape on the coast of North Carolina. It is the point that protrudes the farthest to the southeast along the northeast-to-southwest line of the Atlantic coast of North America...
. The frigate followed, closing Little Belt, and appeared to be trying to manoeuvre into a position to rake the smaller British ship. Bingham wore ship three times to foil the American's attempts, while calling for the frigate to identify herself. Each time though the American demanded the same of Bingham. The frigate, actually the 44-gun USS President
USS President (1800)
USS President was a nominally rated 44-gun wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. She was named by George Washington to reflect a principle of the United States Constitution. Forman Cheeseman was in charge of her construction, and she was launched in April 1800 from a...
under Commodore
Commodore (rank)
Commodore is a military rank used in many navies that is superior to a navy captain, but below a rear admiral. Non-English-speaking nations often use the rank of flotilla admiral or counter admiral as an equivalent .It is often regarded as a one-star rank with a NATO code of OF-6, but is not always...
John Rodgers
John Rodgers (naval officer, War of 1812)
John Rodgers was a senior naval officer in the United States Navy who served under six Presidents for nearly four decades during its formative years in the 1790s through the late 1830s, committing the greater bulk of his adult life to his country...
, then, according to Bingham, opened fire on the Little Belt. Bingham returned fire and an engagement began, lasting three-quarters of an hour. The President was observed to have a fire onboard and drew away.
"a boat accordingly came, with an officer, and a message from Commodore Rodgers, of the President, United States frigate, to say, that he lamented much the unfortunate affair (as he termed it) that had happened, and that had he known our force was so inferior, he should not have fired at me. I asked his motive for having fired at all; his reply was, that we fired the first gun at him, which was positively not the case...[it is not] probable that a sloop of war, within pistol-shot of a large 44-gun frigate, should commence hostilities.The Little Belt was later paid off and sold.
The Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
refused to try Bingham by court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
, and the matter was never successfully concluded, both governments supporting their respective captains' version of events. Bingham was promoted to post captain on 7 February 1812.
Later life
In 1812 the Duke of ClarenceWilliam IV of the United Kingdom
William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...
(the future King William IV) arranged for Bingham to be esquire to the proxy at the installation of Richard Goodwin Keats
Richard Goodwin Keats
Admiral Sir Richard Goodwin Keats was a British naval officer who fought throughout the American Revolution, French Revolutionary War and Napoleonic War. He retired in 1812 due to ill health and was made Commodore-Governor of Newfoundland from 1813 to 1816. In 1821 he was made Governor of...
to the Order of the Bath
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
. Bingham continued in the Navy, being appointed to command HMS Myrtle on 18 November 1813, followed by being made flag captain
Flag captain
In the Royal Navy, a flag captain was the captain of an admiral's flagship. During the 18th and 19th centuries, this ship might also have a "captain of the fleet", who would be ranked between the admiral and the "flag captain" as the ship's "First Captain", with the "flag captain" as the ship's...
to Rear-Admiral Robert Otway
Robert Otway
Admiral Sir Robert Waller Otway, 1st Baronet, GCB was a senior Royal Navy officer of the early nineteenth century who served extensively as a sea captain during the Napoleonic War and later supported the Brazilian cause during the Brazilian War of Independence...
aboard HMS Dover on 25 September 1819. He was appointed to HMS Thetis on 9 November 1826. He drowned in 1830.
Family
Bingham had married Emily Kingsman on 11 March 1813, and the couple had four sons and daughter. Two, Arthur Maunsel Bingham and Thomas Henry Bingham also had naval careers, whilst the third son, William Poulet Bingham became a lieutenant-colonel of the 64th Regiment64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot
The 64th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was created as the 2nd Battalion, 11th Regiment of Foot in 1756, redesignated as the 64th Regiment of Foot in 1758, and took a county title as the 64th Regiment of Foot in 1782...
. The fourth son was Francis Robert Bertie Bingham, and the daughter was Emily Agnata Harriet Bingham.