Honoring Veterans: Navy & Marine Corps Veteran Charles Lauchheimer

Charles Henry “Lauc” Lauchheimer was born in September 1859 in Baltimore, Maryland, to Meyer Henry Lauchheimer and Babbette Eichberg. His military journey began at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, where he graduated in 1881, ranking in the top quarter of his class.

Lauchheimer’s early naval career began aboard the USS Richmond from 1881 to 1883. Following this tour, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps, which allowed him to assume command of the USS Ossipee. He was then able to patrol the strategic waters of the Suez Canal and venture into the Western Pacific. During the second year of the cruise, Lauchheimer fell victim to a severe bout of typhoid fever. He later attributed this illness to contaminated drinking water in Nagasaki, Japan. The severity of his condition was evident in the 70 days he spent on the sick list, a significant portion of his deployment.

In 1884, Lauchheimer earned a law degree from Columbia University, a credential that would prove invaluable throughout his career. His legal expertise propelled him to the office of the Judge Advocate General of the Navy by 1892, where he excelled in court-martial proceedings and civilian litigation. Lauchheimer authored two seminal works: “Naval Courts and Naval Law” and “Forms of Procedure for Naval Courts and Boards,” which significantly shaped naval legal education.