Daniel Warren Ketcham

Daniel Warren Ketcham (1 May, 1867 - 19 July, 1935) was an American artillery officer who served with the U.S. Army.

Early Years
Daniel Ketcham was born in Burns City, Indiana in 1867 to Seth Ketcham and Almira Bernham Ketcham. He attended the U.S. Military Academy and graduated twenty-first in the class of 1890.

Military career
Following his graduation from West Point, Ketcham was commissioned into the 2nd Regiment of Artillery as a 2nd Lieutenant. He served with the 2nd Artillery until 1894, when he attended the Artillery School and graduated with honors. After graduating from the Artillery School, Ketcham spent two years in Fort Warren (1895-1897).

After a brief period in Boston in 1899, Ketcham was stationed in Honolulu for a period of two years (1899-1901) before returning to the continent to be stationed in New York, first at Fort Hamilton from 1902-1903, and then at Fort Totten, from 1903-1904, where he graduated from the School of Submarine Defense.

In 1904, Ketcham was stationed at the Presidio of San Francisco, where he would remain until 1909. During his time here, Ketcham was promoted to Major and transferred from the Artillery Corps to the Coast Artillery Corps in 1908. In 1909, Ketcham was stationed in the Philippines, commanding Fort Wint until 1911, when he returned to Fort Warren, this time as the commanding officer. In 1912, after only a year back in the U.S., Ketcham was appointed member of the General Staff in Washington D.C., position he would hold until 1914.

First World War
Promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel after the outbreak of the First World War, Ketcham took command of Coastal Defenses of the Delaware until 1915, when he became President of the Artillery Board, stationed at Fort Monroe, position he would hold until 1917. During his tenure as President of the Artillery Board, Ketcham also commanded the Civilian Training Camps at Chickamauga Park, Gerogia, and Plattsburg, New York, both during the summer of 1916. At the end of his tenure, Ketcham became the first commander of Fort Story, Virginia in February 1917, ground having been broken only the previous year. Ketcham's command lasted little, as on April of the same year, Ketcham was appointed a member of the Ordnance Board at Sandy Hook, New Jersey.

After the U.S. entry into World War I, Ketcham was promoted to Colonel and assigned once more to the General Staff in Washington D.C. as part of the War Plans Division from August 1917 to May 1918, filling the role of Acting Chief of War Plans Division from January to May 1918. In June of 1918, Ketcham was sent to France with the American Expeditionary Forces to attend the General Staff College at Langres, from which he graduated in September 1918.

On 19 September, 1918, Ketcham took command of the 34th Brigade of the Coast Artillery Corps at Angers, France, and was promoted to Brigadier-General on 1 October, 1918. He would remain in France in command of the Brigade until early 1919.

After the war
After returning from France in early 1919, Ketcham took command of Camp Taylor, Kentucky, for the spring of 1919. He was returned to the rank of Colonel on 15 May, 1919, and he retired at his own request on 24 May, 1919, at his own request, following 32 years of service. His rank as a Brigadier-General was restored in June 1930.

Personal life and death
On 9 October, 1897, Daniel Ketcham married Edith Varnum Smith. He died in Indiana on 19 July, 1935, aged sixty-eight. He is buried at the Burns City Cemetery in Burns City, Indiana.