There is some evidence to support that, yes. For example, JT Huntley of the Kansas Fifth was stationed briefly in Lawrence in July of 1863. He noted that as a rumor of a possible raid spread through town, "One G.W. (sic) Hoyt (afterwards Lt. Col. of the 15th Kan. Cav.) who had some kind of a roving commission as chief of the 'Red Legs,' a body of irregular Union scouts, at that time very numerous on the border, with headquarters at Lawrence, visited the city at this time and made himself very conspicuous in denouncing the 'scare' as being fictitious and emanating from the brain of an ambitious young officer, anxious to attract attention."
-- Charles R. Green, Early Days in Kansas (1912) p.74
One does have to wonder, however, if Hoyt truly did not believe in the possibility of a raid, or whether he was trying to keep the army from 'scaring the horses,' as it were. I suspect the second. But Hoyt was not the only Lawrencian full of brag and bravado that month. You quoted before the August 1st article "The Very Latest From Lawrence," in which a columnist for the Leavenworth Conservative taunts, "Who fears for the safety of our northern Vicksburg? Like the impudent boy of old, I say, 'Go up, Baldhead!' " Impudent boy, indeed. More than 42 bears came out of the woods and ate him, I think.
FYI, there is a new book on Hoyt available on Kindle. Since this is not a commercial board I'll tell you how to get it for free. On 5 days during the next 90 (I haven't decided which yet, but they will probably be in August) you'll be able to download "Good Hater" to your Kindle at no cost. James, you've seen a good bit of what's in it - basically I take the ideals from Hoyt's speech at the 1861 Massachusetts anti-slavery society meeting and compare it to all the nasty stuff he did as a soldier. I also show why he murdered Westport bar owner Phil Bucher (see Edwards) and show that he killed George Todd at Second Independence.
If you have Facebook you can like the page here and you'll be in the loop: https://www.facebook.com/GoodHater
If you don't have Kindle and don't want to put the free reader on your PC, I'll eventually have a print-to-order publisher who will cost a lot more than the $3 electronic copy and arrive a lot slower.