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The Fourth Horseman: One Man's Secret Campaign to Fight the Great War in America

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When anthrax spores were sent through the mails in 2001, we had a reminder of just how scary germs can be as weapons, but the use of such methods has a long history. Until bacteria were scientifically understood, however, those who tried to use infections as armaments were doing so by guesswork. Germs were first systematically deployed as weapons in World War I, and they were used within America by German saboteurs. _In The Fourth Horseman: One Man's Mission to Wage the Great War in America_ (PublicAffairs), Robert Koenig has pieced together the career of Anton Dilger, an American of German roots, and his campaign to strike at one of the foundations of the US Army of the time, its horses and mules. Dilger failed in almost all his efforts; others in later wars would make germ warfare truly frightening. Speculations on his personality and motivations, however, provide fascinating reading, and Koenig has filled his book with valuable historical notes on social and military forces of the time.

Anton Dilger was born on the Shenandoah farm of his father, who was born in Germany but had become a hero in the Union Army. Dilger was sent to German for an education, eventually studying medicine at the University of Heidelberg. When WWI started, as American citizen, he could have returned to the United States and remained neutral. He could not enter the German military, but he did volunteer to be a noncombatant surgeon. He got to see how America's slanted neutrality was hobbling Germany, and he sought a more active role in helping out his homeland. In 1915, the General Staff in Berlin were investigating the use of germs as weapons. The target for the operation would be horses and mules; this bypassed any early international conventions that forbid germ warfare against soldiers. Dilger had medical experience and an American passport, and he was thoroughly loyal to Germany; he was the perfect selection as saboteur to carry out the plan. He set up a basement lab in a house six miles outside of Washington, preparing to breed the germs that cause glanders, an incurable and highly infections equine disease. Dilger equipped his agents with vials of the germs that could be taken to ports on the east coast, where mules and horses were boarding for service in the war. The plot produced casualties, but although glanders could not be cured, it could be reliably tested for and afflicted horses could be culled. Dilger's efforts made little dent in the millions of animals shipped to Europe. He became part of the equally unsuccessful effort to make Mexico a German ally and to arm the units of the Mexican army that could invade the United States. He left Mexico for Madrid. There is nothing certain, but best evidence is that he died there in 1918, the victim of the Spanish flu pandemic, caused by a virus more potent than any he had tried to spread.

The importance of horses and mules to the war effort is a theme which runs through Koenig's fine book. How they were raised and shipped to be of service in the war is covered in detail. It is not clear how Dilger, a smart man and a sympathetic doctor, as well as a horseman from his youth, could have accepted an assignment that he must have hoped would have killed thousands of the animals. He must have thought that any means toward German victory was worth taking. Of the horses shipped to Europe, only the special mounts of officers ever made it back to America; the three quarters of a million other horses and mules either died in the fighting, or afterwards were sent to work in European farms or were slaughtered for meat. The carnage of horses in the war led to increased efforts in animal protection, but the Great War was the last conflict in which horses played a big role on the battlefield, and it is a good bet that they will are safe forever from again being the targets of a biological war. Humans, well, they are going to have to take their chances.

To someone from outside the US, this book brought many revelations, foremost of which was the insight into the thriving German community that existed there prior to 1914, but now is no more. We are familiar with Italian, Greek and Polish influences, but the Germans, as the enemy after a bitter war, had to subsume their culture.

The anti-hero of this gripping book, Anton Dilger, belonged to a family which was more American than German already, but he felt the pull back to earlier roots. The personal letters and insights that Rob Koenig has painstakingly researched show how horrific incidents like the Corpus Christi Massacre in Karlsruhe can have far-reaching effects through people struggling with their identity.

Koenig tells this story in such a way that you do not know what is coming, and thus every chapter has an impact. Throughout, he reveals his mastery of scientific writing for the public. I've read some of his other work on contemporary science, and was delighted to see this historical work. I hope he does another book. This one, meanwhile, is highly recommended to those who like biography, travel, history, science and warfare, all rolled up in one.

Prior to the events of September 11, 2001, many Americans had a false sense of security regarding foreign attacks on U.S. soil. But in the post 9/11 world, we sadly realized our vulnerability and acknowledged the possibility of subsequent, similar attacks and the potential for equally as heinous attacks of a chemical or biological nature. It is this vulnerability to horrific acts committed by foreign agents living among us and blending into our society, that draws us into the fascinating story of Anton Dilger, an American-born doctor, beloved by his family and well respected in his community, who came to lead a secret life as a German spy and saboteur during World War I.

This thought provoking and informative tale, with its blend of history, intrigue and espionage, will entertain the most ardent history buffs and WWI aficionados, as well as those simply looking for an entertaining and enjoyable change of pace book.

Because we now remember WWI for its industrialized slaughter, we have almost forgotten how important horses still were to the conduct of war -- so important that disrupting the shipment of horses from the U.S. to Britain and France was a priority for the German war effort. One of the first organized attempts at germ warfare was directed at infecting horses bound for Europe.

This story of Anton Dilger, an American surgeon who worked undercover as a saboteur for the Germans, has an historical sweep that will engage a broad audience -- particularly in light of our newly-heightened fears of biological warfare. The underlying research makes the book a resource for specialists in several areas -- WWI, military history, biological warfare -- and the graceful presentation also suits it to the general reader of history.

Dilger, the son of a Civil War cavalry officer, betrayed his family, his country and his profession in organizing the infection of American horses with anthrax and glanders germs. The author follows him from his childhood in rural Virginia through his education in Germany, his recruitment and work as an undercover agent, to his probable death -- never entirely confirmed -- in Spain during the flu pandemic in 1918.

Even after almost a century, a sad immediacy clings to many aspects of this story. The horses are gone, but much else remains the same.

My name is Tim O'Neil (husband of Christine). For a decade, Robert Koenig and I worked together as reporters at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. I offer this as personal disclosure and testimony to my knowledge of Mr. Koenig's fine work. He is thorough in research and careful to confirm information. His writing is clear and absorbing. He applied those skills in writing The Fourth Horseman. He read family files and forgotten government archives. He searched hard for single documents to explain or confirm information on Anton Dilger, and then wrote a full narrative of the motivations and acts of a man who worked hard to cover his tracks. He took time to explain Dilger's era, especially its reliance upon horses, to provide the setting for one man's trail. The result is a fine book.

Robert Koenig's portrayal of Anton Dilger's mission to bring germ warfare to America during WWI is far more than just a gripping story of biological warfare and sabotage in one of its first modern instances. Koenig's work resonates to our own contemporary struggle against terrorism in a number of different ways. First, Koenig delves into the psyche and family history of Anton and with painstaking research presents to the reader the fascinating story of how an American born medical student becomes an agent for Imperial Germany. Second, we are reminded of the response of the US government in dealing with the supposed "enemy within", in both its indiscriminate nature and ineffective results. Finally, Koenig also reminds us of the societal response towards the supposed German-American "threat", one that had its own "liberty stakes" (taste great when combined with "freedom fries", one would assume).

This is a very well researched book that combines intrigue of the mysterious world of spies during WWI with a personal story of a man who chose to betray his country, one that his father served proudly during the Civil War. In a way, Koenig offers a reminder that our current predicament is not so unique.

I've read the book a couple of times and have gotten more out with each reading. Bob Koenig has done a tremendous job in terms of the accuracy of his research. His writing style draws the reader into the story. Excellent and highly recommended.

This book should be required reading for all folks at DHS, FBI and DOD involved in counter-terrorism activities. It's full of new material and research on an 80 year old case, which speaks volumes about Mr. Koenig's excellent research, analytical and writing talents, especially in light of the repetitive and often erroneous pablum cranked out by government history offices... Koenig's research and analysis into Dr. Anton Dilger's past on both sides of the Atlantic reveals the man's predisposition for intelligence work for Germany, in spite of his US citizenship. Solid, ground-breaking research, more readable than a fiction thriller, fantastic book...

The Fourth Horseman: One Man's Secret Campaign to Fight the Great War in America, Robert Koenig, Public Affairs Publisher, 376 pages, 2006, photographs, notes, index, $26.00.

Hugo Dilger, German immigrant and Federal artillery battery commander during the Civil War In 1915, after the war farmed near Front Royal, Virginia. A son, Anton Dilger, was born in America and became a surgeon and germ research specialist in Germany. He was recruited immediately before World War I by German intelligence, moved to Chevy Chase, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C., and set up a basement laboratory in order to produce anthrax and glanders bacteria. The target? Not people but horses and mules. America supplied a majority of the beasts to Allied armies in Europe. Dilger also traveled mission Mexico into war before the Zimmerman Telegram was discovered.

The author broadens the scope of his work by including German sabotage of American munitions plants and Pancho Villa's invasion of Texas from Mexico. The allegiance of German immigrants during the war is briefly discussed. Also presented is Dilger's lack of regard for his American citizenship and medical research ethics.

Readers are shown the care, feeding, and transport of horses to Europe. The Author provides descriptions of the dank, dim and depressing trans-Atlantic shipping of horses and mules, their starvation and death on the European battlefield, and the post-war slaughter or abandonment to French and Belgian farmers and butcher shops.

Dilger used aliases in Germany, the U.S., Mexico and Spain, he died of complications of influenza, which at the time was a world pandemic. Dying under an alias, there is no gravestone with Anton Dilger's name on it. Koenig's narrative moves at a slower pace than the reader's attention and some descriptions seem a bit more detailed than necessary. Though some readers may call the descriptions lavish. Overall the story is delivered well and keeps this reader's attention. The story's conclusion is disheartening: the German-American doctor is dying without medical attention in Spain, other German researchers continue their work into World War II, and no one is held accountable for infecting animals and killing munition workers. Koenig effectively quotes John LeCarre on the nature of those who practice espionage and it is a damning judgment on Dilger's life.

An educator told me about this book while visiting Front Royal, VA. So glad I ordered the book from Amazon. It's an eye opener.