Manuscript
Page: 1

David Hoyt to his Father, Regarding Shays' Rebellion

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Date:	1787
Creator:	David Hoyt, Jr.

About this artifact

Although the town of Deerfield sent representatives to county conventions and expressed alarm over the economic distresses afflicting its residents, only a few men joined the thousands of Regulators who took up arms against the state. Instead, the town militia turned out to support the government. David Hoyt, Jr., was 30 years old when he and 140 other Deerfield men marched to Springfield, Massachusetts, where they joined approximately 1,200 other local militia in defending the United States Arsenal from 1,400 Regulators. In this rare, first-hand account written to his father immediately after the action at the Arsenal, Hoyt reports with satisfaction that the Arsenal artillery made short work of "the mob."