Eastern Tennessee was heavily Unionist, persecuted by Confederates and protected by Union troops.
Like Western Virginians, East Tennesseans considered secession from their state, but did not accomplish it.
Might that be what you meant?
There may be an interesting story there for a historian to explore. Did the big planters in those counties who favored moderation in the fall, turn around to support secession in the winter? Or were they dragging their feet during the secession convention as well?
Was the vote in the presidential election a result of the Delta planters traditionally being Whigs and Bell being a Tennessean from not so far away? Or was there a real commitment to union and moderation among the wealthy planters who had so much to lose?
Or was it that even in the Delta, big planters who opposed secession, were still outnumbered by those who were less wealthy and more enthusiastic for secession? Of course, once the war began and big slaveowners were exempted from the draft, it did a lot to encourage anti-Davis sentiment in poorer Southerners.