Henry H. Bingham

Henry Harrison Bingham (December 4, 1841 – March 22, 1912) was a Union officer in the American Civil War, receiving the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of the Wilderness. He was a postbellum long-time Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Bingham County, Idaho, is named in his honor.
==Biography==
===Early life===
Henry H. Bingham was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He 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. 
===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.Order of battle 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.Brother's War description 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.Masons at the Battle of Gettysburg
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."Medal of Honor citation 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. Bingham County, Idaho was named in his honor.
==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. 
==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==
* Retrieved on 2007-11-07
* Retrieved on 2007-11-07
==Notes==
Category:1841 births
Category:1912 deaths
Category:Union Army generals
Category:People of Pennsylvania in the American Civil War
Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
Category:United States Army generals
Category:Army Medal of Honor recipients
Category:Washington & Jefferson College alumni
Category:People from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Category:Postmasters