As a precautionary measure the President early sent five thousand stand of muskets to Castle Pinckney with the promise that a sloop of war and a smaller armed vessel should reach Charleston harbor in due time. The commanding officer of Castle Pinckney was to be instructed to deliver the arms, ordnance, and other equipment to the order of Poinsett as the occasion should demand and as they could be spared from the arsenal. The President interpreted nullification to mean insurrection and war; he felt that the other states had a right to put it down and that all the "peaceable citizens" of South Carolina had a right to aid in the same patriotic effort when summoned in support of the violated laws of the land. He placed much confidence in the Union party of South Carolina, acting with Poinsett, and was anxious to furnish all means in his power to these patriots to save the state.[1]
- ↑ Poinsett Papers: Jackson to Poinsett, December 2, 9, 1832; Department of War to Poinsett, December 7; Van Buren Papers: Jackson to Van Buren, October 23. One Union man in Calhoun's own section assured Jackson that he intended to start a movement in the Union party to secure the impeachment of Calhoun, and asked that all his former letters to the President be preserved for evidence of the impression produced in his district by the attempts of Calhoun to excite the people to resist the operation of the laws (Jackson Papers: Dr. E. S. Davis tɔ
