During the secession crisis that followed the election of Abraham Lincoln in late 1860, Crutchfield remained committed to the Union. On January 22, 1861, Jefferson Davis, the future president of the Confederacy who had just resigned his seat in the United States Senate, stayed at the Crutchfield House while en route to his home in Mississippi. In the hotel's dining room that night, Davis delivered a short speech praising secession and encouraging Tennessee to join the rest of the South. After Davis had finished, Crutchfield, who had been listening, leaped upon a counter and delivered a scathing retort. He described Davis as a "renegade and a traitor," and stated that Tennessee would not be "hood winked, bamboozled and dragged into your Southern, codfish, aristocratic, tory blooded, South Carolina mobocracy." Davis refuted Crutchfield's charges in a brief response. One report of the incident stated that Davis's supporters had "pistols drawn and cocked for immediate use," while others suggested that Davis considered challenging Crutchfield to a duel. In any event, Crutchfield's brother, Thomas, led Davis from the room, and further incident was avoided.