Arthur Bingham
| Arthur Bingham | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1784 |
| Died | 1830 |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch |
 Royal Navy
|
| Years of service | – 1830 |
| Rank | 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 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.
Bingham was born in 1784, the second son of the Ven. William Bingham, D.D. (1743–1819), vicar of Great Gaddesden (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 Corbett.
Nereide sailed from Simon's Bay on 1 May and cruised off the French possessions of Mauritius 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.
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