Charles Bendire

EARLY LIFE

Born Karl Emil Bender at König Im Odenwald in the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, he was the eldest of six children. Bender was home schooled until the age of twelve, after which he attended five years at a theological school at Passy , near Paris . Karl left school suddenly and returned home, and on the advice of a friend he and his brother Wilhelm Bender left for New York in 1853 . Upon arrival they found that the new world did not exactly meet their grand expectations. Wilhelm Bender soon sought to return home, but was lost at sea when he fell overboard.

ARMY CAREER

After his brother's departure, Bender enlisted in the United States armed forces at the age of eighteen on June 10 , 1854 and changed his name to Charles Bendire, dropping his middle name altogether. Although Bendire would later start using his middle initial again in correspondance and public notes, his legally official name did not contain a middle name.

Bendire served for five years as a Private and late a Corporal in Company D, First Dragoons. After his tour of duty ended Bendire left the army for one year, but re-enlisted on June 8 , 1860 and was assigned to the 4th Cavalry, where he served as a Private, Corporal, Sergeant, and a Hospital Stewart until he was assigned as a 2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry on May 18 , 1864 and discharged by reason of appointment on September 9 , 1864 . He was transferred to the 1st Cavalry and over the years promoted to 1st Lieutenant (for "for gallant and meritorious services" at the Battle Of Trevilian Station ), Captain, Major, and placed on retirement on April 24 , 1886 for disability contracted in the line of duty.

During Bendire's service in the army he was sent to many locations, often isolated, across America, from Virginia to Arizona to Washington and California. Bendire mainly fought against American Indians during the periods of the United States' expansions. It was during his travels across North America that he developed a fondness for all things wild, particularly birds.

ORNITHOLOGY

Initially, he would send letters of descriptions to other American naturalists like Joel A. Allen , Thomas M. Brewer , Elliott Coues , and Robert Ridgway , who would publish them in American naturalist magazines like '' Bulletin Of The Nuttall Ornithological Club '' and the '' American Naturalist ''. In 1877 , he began to published pieces under his own name.

He frequently donated samples, especially eggs, to the U.S. National Museum in Washington, D.C. . He discovered new information about the migration habits of different birds and discovered new species, including the Bendire's Thrasher , ''Toxostoma bendirei''.

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Charles Bendire

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