Some aggression.
Lieut. Jones having been advised that a force of 2,500 troops had been ordered by Gov. Letcher to take possession of Harper’s Ferry, and finding his position untenable, under direction of the War Department, he destroyed all the munitions of war, armory, and all the buildings. He withdrew his command under cover of night and almost in the presence of 2,500 troops. Source
If I understand correctly, Jones had 43 men. There were about 360 assembled in Charles Town moving towards the arsenal and about 2,500 moving in from elsewhere. What would you do under the circumstances?
That would depend on my motive. It I was to honor the word our federal government gave to the Commonwealth of Virginia three score and seventeen years earlier, then I would have surrendered the armory and negotiated for reparations. But if my motive was to violate that assurance and suppress an independent Virginia, then I would have blown up the armory.