Horst von der Goltz (born Franz Wachendorf in 1884 in Koblenz[1]) was a German counterintelligence agent during World War I.

To impress the Mexicans, he took the name Horst von der Goltz, the name under which he was detained together with other German mercenaries from Villa's opposition for a time in Chihuahua.

Goltz met the German consul Otto Kueck in El Paso, Texas, who told him about the new Office of Military Attaché of Franz von Papen (for sabotage and subversion) in the Wall Street District of New York City, which he soon joined.

[1] The Krupp representative in New York, Hans Tauscher, ordered—under the pretext of blowing up tree stumps on a farm—the dynamite for the attack from the DuPont Powder Company.

[9] On November 4, 1914 while working for the German Foreign Office and Abteilung III b,[1] Goltz registered at a London hotel as Bridgeman Taylor of El Paso, Texas USA.

In January 1915, Goltz gave William Reginald Hall, the head of British Naval Intelligence, insider information in the hope that he would be released early.

In his luggage, which the British searched at sea, a number of secret documents were found, including a check for B. Taylor, which referred to Goltz by his real name, and a note saying that he was in England, under orders to serve in Britain.

[8][11] As a key witness in the court proceedings, Goltz added to the perception of the Germans as "Dynamiters" in America and he heavily damaged the defense of the people involved.

Hans Tauscher and Papen's representative Wolf von Igel were arrested, and diplomats Karl Boy-Ed and Consul Carl Lüderitz were accused of espionage, sabotage and passport offences.