Henry M. Hoyt - Military Career

Military Career

As a soldier in the Civil War, Hoyt was initially commissioned as Lieutenant Colonel, then as colonel of the 52nd Pennsylvania Infantry, leading it during the Peninsula Campaign and subsequent actions of the Army of the Potomac until January 1863, the regiment was ordered to Charleston, South Carolina.

He participated in the siege of Morris Island under Brig. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore. Hoyt led troops in a rare night attack on Fort Johnson, steathily arriving in the darkness via boats. He initially captured the fort, but was unable to hold it for lack of reinforcements and he and many of his men were captured in a Confederate counterattack. After being confined in Macon, Georgia, Hoyt was taken back to Charleston, and escaped briefly before being recaptured.

Upon his eventual exchange, he rejoined his regiment, with which he remained till the close of the war, when he was mustered out with the rank of brevet brigadier general.