Arthur Bingham
Arthur Bingham | |
---|---|
Born | 1784 |
Died | 1830 |
Allegiance | Post captain |
Commands held | HMS Caledon HMS Little Belt HMS Myrtle HMS Dover HMS Thetis |
Battles/wars | Little Belt affair Napoleonic Wars |
Arthur Batt Bingham (1784–1830) was an officer in the
Family and early life
Bingham was born in 1784, the second son of the Ven.
Lieutenant of the Nereide
Nereide sailed from
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.[5]
Commander of Little Belt
By November 1810 Bingham was given the command of the 20-gun
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...[5]
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
The President then returned, and asked if Bingham had struck. Bingham replied that he had not, and the President again withdrew.[6] 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.[6] 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
"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.[5]
The Little Belt was later paid off and sold.[5]
The
Later life
In 1812 the
On 20 August 1830, the Thetis was anchored off Puna Island (Ecuador). Captain Bingham chose to go ashore to Guayaquil. During transit, the barge was swamped resulting in the deaths of the ship's chaplain and Captain Bingham.[7]
Family
Bingham had married Emily Kingsman on 11 March 1813, and the couple had four sons and daughter.
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Burke's Dictionary
- ^ Burke, Sir Bernard: A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Colonial Gentry (in 2 volumes), Vol I, London: Harrison & Sons, 59 Pall Mall, 1891, p. 9
- ^ Barker, G. F. Russell, comp. The Record of Old Westminsters, London: Chiswick Press, 1928, p. 90
- ^ National Archives: Will of Libert Dorrien, Merchant of Fenchurch Street, City of London 3 November 1753 PROB 11/804
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Marshall's Naval Biography
- ^ a b c d Ships of the Old Navy
- ^ "The United Service Magazine". 1831.
References
- Marshall, John (1829). . Royal Naval Biography. Vol. sup, part 3. London: Longman and company. p. 49.
- A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, Bernard Burke, 1862 – at googlebooks.com
- HMS Little Belt at ships of the old navy
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.