Munson Hoyt’s Uniform

Hoyt (sometimes spelled “Hayt”) was born in Norwalk, CT. His wore this officer’s coat, made of red wool broadcloth, while he served as a lieutenant in the Prince of Wales’ American Regiment. The unit, which was organized in Middletown, CT in the summer of 1776, fought at the Battle of Ridgefield in 1777, before traveling to South Carolina for the remainder of the war.

Scholars estimate that when the war began, roughly 2,000 out of approximately 25,000 men between the ages of 16 and 50 in Connecticut were Loyalists. Connecticut likely had the highest percentage of Loyalists in New England, and southwest Connecticut, Fairfield County in particular, likely had the highest concentration of Loyalists in the colony.

After the war, like many former members of his British regiment, Hoyt relocated to New Brunswick, Canada. In Saint John, he opened a store with the famous Connecticut Loyalist Benedict Arnold.

Munson Hoyt’s uniform is in the collection of the Connecticut Museum of Culture and History in Hartford.