Philipp Engelhardt was an officer in the Imperial German Army during World War I. Little of his life appears to have been recorded. His most important contribution to the historical record comes in November, 1914, when, at the First Battle of Ypres, Lt. Colonel Engelhardt was protected from French gunfire by dispatch runners Anton Bachmann and Adolf Hitler. A 1915 report suggests that four runners, Bachmann and Hitler included, took pre-emptory steps to protect Engelhardt, who was not yet under fire. A subsequent report that first appeared not long before Hitler took power in Germany paints Bachmann and Hitler as more heroic figures, risking their lives under fire to save a beloved commander.