U.S. Marine General John A. Lejeune and the UDC Cross of World War I Military Service

 

Front page of the March 1924 edition of Confederate Veteran Magazine showing the
UDC Cross of Military Service medal being awarded to then U.S. Major General John A. Lejeune
by then UDC President Mrs. Livingston Rowe Schuyler on December 11th, 1923.
General Lejeune was among the first Confederate descendants to receive the award.

Mrs. Livingston Schuyler was born Leonora St. George Rogers on November 16, 1868, in Ocala, Florida, the daughter of Samuel St. George Rogers (1832-1880), a native of Florida who was a Colonel in the Confederate Army and later served in the Confederate States Congress in Richmond, Virginia (1864-1865), and his wife Josephine Amanda Baynard (1840-1899). Her father's mother was a Davidson from North Carolina and her mother's people, the Baynards, were prominent in South Carolina.

In 1894, she married Reverend Livingston Rowe Schuyler (1868-1931), an Episcopal priest and American Revolutionary War historian from New York, and they lived for a time in England and France before returning to New York. Mrs. Schuyler served as President General of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) in 1921-1923. She was also a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).

Mrs. Schuyler died of a heart attack while attending a UDC Convention in Biloxi, Mississippi, on December 8, 1952 at age 84.

U.S. Lieutenant General John Archer LeJeune (1867-1942) was born on Thursday, January 10, 1867 at Old Hickory Plantation, near Lacour, Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, the son of Ovide LeJeune (1820-1889) and his wife Laura Archer Turpin (1840-1899). Ovide LeJeune served as Captain of Company I, 1st Louisiana Cavalry, C.S.A. during the War Between The States.

Lejeune attended Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge from September 1881 to April 1884 and was graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland in 1888. He later transferred from the Navy to a commission in as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1890.

He served in the military with distinction for over 40 years, fighting in the Spanish American War (1898) and when the United States entered World War I (1917-1918), rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1909, full Colonel in 1913, Brigadier General in 1916, and Major General in 1918 when led the Army's Second Division during the Battles of San Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne Campaign.

The commanding officer of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) U.S. General John Joseph "Blackjack" Pershing awarded Lejeune the U.S. Army's Distinguished Service Medal and the French military awarded him the Legion of Honor, and the Croix de guerre. The U.S. Navy's Distinguished Service Medal was also conferred upon him when he returned to the United States.

Lejeune served as Commandant of the Marine Corps from 1920 to 1929. When he retired from the Marine Corps in 1929, he became Superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, Virginia, serving in that post until 1937. General Lejeune married Ellie Harrison Murdaugh (1872-1953) in 1895, and they had three daughters. He was promoted to Lieutenant General after his retirement by the U.S. military.

General

UDC Cross of Honor Medal
for World War I Veterans.

Lejeune died on Friday, November 20, 1942, in the Union Memorial Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, and was interred in the Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. He is known today as "The Greatest of all Leathernecks," and the United States Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina was named in his honor during World War II.

As an outgrowth from the Southern Cross of Honor Medal created for members of the United Confederate Veterans (UCV), the UDC introduced the Cross of Honor Medal for World War One Veterans of Confederate descent in 1923.

The designer of the medal was Mr. Chester Beach who was recommended to the UDC by the Numismatic Society of New York. The design was the Cross of the Crusader bound by the Confederate Battle Flag to the Southern Cross of Honor. The inscription reads: "Fortes Creantur Fortibus" (The brave give birth to the brave). The Cross of Service was awarded under the rules of the Southern Cross of Honor to male descendants of Confederate soldiers who had served in WWI. The medals were available by application from the UDC and could carry a small bronze dolphin device on the ribbon to signify overseas service.

The UDC officially retired the award in 2011 and during its run the medal was given out to just over 5,600 known U.S. World War I veterans with Confederate ancestry.

Night Sky Photography -- 11-19-2021 -- Partial Lunar Eclipse, The Pleiades, & Bright Constellation Stars

Good evening fellow stargazers!

I have a really good set of photos for y'all to enjoy tonight, the first couple of which involves the Partial Lunar Eclipse of the November Full Beaver Moon. Other names for November’s full moon include: the Digging Moon, the Whitefish Moon, and the Frost Moon.

Lunar eclipses can only occur during full moons when the moon is at its brightest.

What made this Partial Lunar Eclipse special is that it was the longest lunar eclipse since the year 1440 AD, and will be the longest Lunar Eclipse until 2669 AD -- needless to say I was thankful to God for clear skies and the chance to capture it on camera this time around.

At 1:02 AM our beautiful Luna entered the penumbra -- the outer part of the Earth's shadow -- and the Moon begins to dim very subtly over the next couple of hours. Two hours later at around 2:18 AM, the Moon begins to enter Earth’s umbra -- the darkest part of the planet's shadow -- and the partial eclipse begins. At this point, it looks to the naked eye like a huge bite is being taken out of the Moon.

Graphic showing a Lunar Eclipse in relation to the Earth's shadow effect.
Image courtesy of Google.

The part of the Moon inside the umbra appears very dark red. Because the Earth has an atmosphere, its shadow is not black. This is the same phenomenon that causes early morning sunrises and evening sunsets to glow a dull red color. That’s why lunar eclipses are sometimes called blood moons.

The peak of the Eclipse occurred at exactly 4:02 AM when about 97% of the Moon's surface was darkened red, leaving only the slightly silvery-white curve. As you can see in my photo, the white of the lunar surface in the far left with Tycho Crater clearly visible inside the lighter part of the umbra.

Ironically, what actually made this eclipse so long was the fact it was a partial one, because the Moon had to travel farther through the Earth's shadow as opposed to a full eclipse when the Moon would move directly through the penumbra and umbra. Also because the moon was currently at apogee (the farthest point in its orbit from Earth) it was also moving at its slowest speed as it passed through the Earth's shadow, taking over 100 minutes from the time of first umbra contact to the time of greatest eclipse and then till exiting the umbra.

Overall, the Partial Lunar Eclipse began at 1:02 AM EST and ended at 7:04 AM EST, approximately 6 hours and 2 minutes from entering to existing the Earth's shadow.

However, in case you feel bummed out for missing this one, not to worry. Next year there will be two Lunar Eclipses! The first one taking place on Monday, May 16th and the other on Tuesday, November 8th.

Because of the Partial Lunar Eclipse there was little moonlight to block out some of the closest stars, including the nearby Pleiades Star Cluster and some of the brighter stars of the Constellations Taurus The Bull and Orion The Hunter. In fact nearly all of the stars of both constellations were clearly visible.

Here, I highlighted the positions of the stars and the lines of the constellations, as well as the three bight stars: Sirius, Procyon, and Betelgeuse that make up the Winter Triangle asterism.

Well folks, I hope y'all enjoyed my photos for this evening. Please let me know in the comments below and I will see y'all next time. Till then keep your eyes to the night skies, y'all hear!

Night Sky Photography -- 11-17-2021 -- Parade Of Planets In Southwestern Sky

This evening I was able to capture the parade of planets visible all this month in the sky dome just after sunset using a local convenience store in the foreground.

As you can see Venus is the brightest object in the night sky right now, with Jupiter (the largest planet in out solar system) in second place, while ringed Saturn appears as a barely visible dot you can just make out.

Amateur stargazers should be able to easily spot the three planets through the rest of the year, Venus is the brightest planet in the evening sky until January when it will begin to appear in the morning sky before sunrise. Using Venus as a starting point, follow the ecliptic -- the path the sun travels across the sky -- you will find bright Jupiter. Distant Saturn, which sits between both bright planets, will be harder to spot with the naked eye until at least a hour after sunset.