But think of War and Peace, of the Grand Armee marching into Russia. If Kutuzov had been held accountable for the loss of Moscow, we'd all be speaking French. Every other general was worried about being held accountable socially, of being judged a coward. Kutuzov alone was willing to take on the social opprobrium of being judged a coward, of losing Moscow, of running away from Napoleon. Napoleon expected Kutuzov to act like every other brave general he'd faced, afraid of being held accountable, when the right decision was to behave like a coward.
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This doesnt really affect your argument, but your example with Kutuzov is really funny: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Andreas_Barclay_de_Tolly#Napoleon's_invasion. In short, Kutuzov continued Barcley de Tolly strategy, but also had fortune of being ethnic russian.
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