Jimmy, you are right in your thinking, but the starter has to be engaged in order to turn the armiture. Shorting across will do this, but the starter is clicking, telling us that not enough cranking amps are present to spin the starter. Bad ground, bad connections, uncharged battery, and the list goes on. Usually start with the obvious, battery, then battery terminals, then, ground connections, then, connections to the starter, etc....etc....