He was a Union Army officer in the American Civil War, fought in some of the key battles of the war and received the United States Military's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, for his actions at the Battle of the Wilderness.

[1] He graduated from Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1862,[1] where he became a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.

[3] Bingham enlisted in the Union Army and received a commission as a first lieutenant in the 140th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry on August 22, 1862.

[1] During the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1–3, 1863, he was serving as captain and Judge-Advocate on the staff of Major General Winfield Scott Hancock's II Corps.

[1] 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.

[1] On September 25, 1864, Bingham was discharged from his company for promotion and appointed Major and Judge Advocate of the First Division.

[9] Bingham was captured at Dabney's Mill, Virginia on October 27, 1864 during the Battle of Fair Oaks & Darbytown Road but escaped the same day.