Daniel Isom Sultan

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For the Australian singer and songwriter, see Dan Sultan.

Daniel Isom Sultan
Inspector General of the U.S. Army
Battles/warsWorld War I
World War II
AwardsArmy Distinguished Service Medal (4)
Legion of Merit
Bronze Star Medal
Air Medal (posthumous)
Companion of the Order of the Bath (United Kingdom)
Congressional Medal of Distinction (Nicaragua)
Presidential Medal of Merit (Nicaragua)
Order of the Cloud and Banner, with Special Grand Cordon (China)
Engineer Commissioner of the District of Columbia
In office
August 22, 1932 – September 7, 1938 [1]
Preceded byJohn C. Gotwals
Succeeded byDavid McCoach, Jr.

Daniel Isom Sultan (December 9, 1885 – January 14, 1947) was an American

War Department General Staff and the general staff of the American Expeditionary Forces until 1922. Sultan led the Nicaragua Canal Survey
and commanded American troops in the country from 1929 to 1931, when he returned to the United States and wrote a report on the canal.

Sultan next was district engineer in

Companion of the Order of the Bath
.

Early life

Sultan was born on December 9, 1885, in Oxford, Mississippi, to a planter.[2] After attending the University of Mississippi from 1901 to 1903,[3] he attended the United States Military Academy from June 15, 1903, to June 14, 1907, becoming an All-American as a center in football.[3] He graduated 9th in a class of 111.[4]

Early military service

Sultan as a West Point cadet

He was commissioned a

Washington Barracks from October 3, 1908, to August 24, 1912. While there, Sultan graduated from the Engineer School on February 23, 1910; was the secretary of school from September 7, 1909, to April 12, 1912; was adjutant of the First Battalion of Engineers from October 1, 1909, to April 12, 1912; was a member of the Board on Engineer Troops from March 1 to September 7, 1912; and was promoted to first lieutenant on February 27, 1911.[4][5]

Officers of the War Plans Branch, War Plans Division, General Staff, standing outside the entrance of the Army War College at Washington, D.C., May 1918. Lieutenant Colonel Daniel I. Sultan is standing in the middle of the back row, between Captain Robert L. Eichelberger (right) and Lieutenant W. J. Green (left).

Sultan taught at West Point in the department of engineering and served as an assistant football coach from August 24, 1912, to July 18, 1916,

Grande Islands. While there, he was made a major on May 15, 1917, and a temporary lieutenant-colonel on August 5, 1917. Sultan served in that capacity until October 18, 1917, when he was moved to Manila and placed in charge of all Philippines fortification work on October 19. He left Manila on January 14, 1918, and returned to the United States.[7]

On January 21, he was assigned to the

War Department General Staff, and served on the staff in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1918, to June 1919, during which time he was made a colonel on July 13, 1918.[5] Sultan was assigned to duty as general staff officer at the headquarters of the American Expeditionary Forces in France from June 1919, to October 1919, when he returned to duty with the War Department General Staff at Washington, D. C.. He was relieved from duty as a general staff officer on January 20, 1922, but continued on with the general staff until August 1922. He had returned to the rank of major on March 15, 1920.[8] For his work as a general staff member, Sultan was awarded the Army Distinguished Service Medal.[9]
The citation for the medal reads:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Colonel (Corps of Engineers) Daniel Isom Sultan (ASN: 0-2212), United States Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during World War I. As Chief of the Personnel Section in the Office of the Executive Assistant to the Chief of Staff of the Army during the war and the demobilization, Colonel Sultan formulated policies covering commissioned personnel and handled with marked ability many complex questions of grave importance to the War Department and to the entire Army. His work was characterized by conspicuous breadth of vision and keen foresight. His splendid judgment and the sound policies initiated by him contributed in a large measure to the successful handling of the commissioned personnel of the Army. He rendered service of signal worth to the Government in a position of great responsibility.[10]

Later military service

Sultan was then at Fort Leavenworth as a student officer at the

Command and General Staff School from August 1922 to July 1923, and graduated as an 'honor graduate'. He moved to Savannah, Georgia and was the district engineer, in charge of all river and harbor improvements and fortifications in the region, from August 1923 to August 1925. Sultan attended the Army War College from August 1925 to July 1926; and was then a resident member of Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors in Washington, DC from July 1926 to August 1929.[8]

Nicaragua survey

Sultan traveled to Nicaragua from August 20 to 29,[8] arriving in Corinto and making his way to Granada.[11] He was in charge of the Nicaragua Canal Survey and commanding US Army troops in Nicaragua beginning in August 1929.[8] The survey gradually made its way through the country, finishing its work in the summer of 1931.[11] On March 31, 1931, Managua was hit by a devastating earthquake. Sultan organized a relief team of 34 soldiers, and was on an emergency committee for responding. He was charged with overseeing the restoration of railroads and water to the city, and chaired a food relief committee that provided 24,000 rations daily by April 24.[12][13]

While in Nicaragua, he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on October 1, 1930, and was made a member of the Interoceanic Canal Board on March 31. Sultan's command ended in July 1931,

National Geographic Magazine.[15] Sultan was awarded an oak leaf cluster to his Distinguished Service Medal for his work in Nicaragua, particularly for his response to the earthquake. He was also awarded the Nicaraguan Congressional Medal of Distinction and Presidential Medal of Merit.[16]

Commissioner

He was then made district engineer in Chicago, leading construction of the Great Lakes to Mississippi Waterway[3] until July 1934, during which time he was also the administrator of the Civil Works Administration in Cook County, Illinois. From July to September 1934 he worked with the Board of Engineers for Rivers and Harbors. Sultan then worked as engineer commissioner of the District of Columbia, a member of the National Capital Park and Planning Commission, the Public Utilities Commission, the Unemployment Compensation Board, and chairman of the Zoning Commission until September 1938. He was made a colonel on October 1, 1935, and vice-chairman of committee that arranged the inauguration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January 1937.[14]

World War II

Sultan then commanded the 2d Regiment of Engineers from October to December 1, 1938, and was promoted to

China-Burma-India Theater in 1943 to act as deputy commander under General Joseph Stilwell.[17] As deputy commander stationed in Allied-controlled New Delhi, Sultan focused largely on logistical issues, ensuring that sufficient supplies arrived in China, particularly by airlifting goods over the Himalayas and constructing the Ledo Road.[3][18] He was promoted to lieutenant general on September 2, 1944, and on October 24 became commander of the India-Burma Theater.[2][17][a]

As commander, Sultan was under the authority of

Companion of the Order of the Bath (United Kingdom) and granted the Order of the Cloud and Banner with Special Grand Cordon. After his death he was awarded the Air Medal.[3][17]

Legacy

The United States Navy transport ship USNS General Daniel I. Sultan (T-AP-120) was named in his honor.[2]

References

Notes
  1. ^ A separate theater was created, not including China, with Sultan as the commander.[19]
Citations
  1. ^ "DCPL: MLK: Washingtoniana Division: FAQs: DC Commissioners". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved October 6, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ a b c d e "General Daniel I. Sultan". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved April 28, 2020.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Jaffee, Walter W. (February 2020). "No Speeches, No Band Playing" (PDF). Sea Classics. 53: 28–32, 56–57. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Cullum 1910, pp. 794, 810.
  5. ^ a b Cullum 1920, p. 1276.
  6. ^ "Sultan Becomes Deputy Chief". CBI Roundup. Vol. II, no. 17. January 6, 1944. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  7. ^ Cullum 1920, pp. 1276–1277.
  8. ^ a b c d Cullum 1930, p. 740.
  9. ^ Cullum 1930, p. 741.
  10. ^ "Valor awards for Daniel Isom Sultan". Military Times.
  11. ^ a b Brodhead 2013, pp. 20–27, 28.
  12. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  13. ^ Brodhead 2013, pp. 28–29.
  14. ^ a b c d Cullum 1940, pp. 187–188.
  15. ^ Brodhead 2013, pp. 28–31.
  16. ^ Cullum 1940, p. 188.
  17. ^ a b c d Cullum 1950, p. 113.
  18. ^
    ISBN 978-1-85109-969-6
    .
  19. ^ a b MacGarrigle, George L. "Central Burma". GPO. pp. 7–8. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  20. ^
    ISBN 978-0-8108-7026-0
    .
  21. ^ "Lt-General Daniel I. Sultan". Oxford Reference. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  22. ^ "Gen. Sultan Dead; CBI War Chief, 61" (PDF). The New York Times. January 15, 1947. p. 24. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  23. ^ "Sultan, Daniel I". Army Cemeteries Explorer. U.S. Army. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
Sources

External links

Military offices
Preceded by
Inspector General of the U. S. Army

July 14, 1945 – January 14, 1947 		Succeeded by
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