Is it a case of how "leading troops in battle" in some cases is defined in as such that they can largely avoid putting themselves in danger or that greater value is placed upon their safety and surrounding themselves with the best fighters?
But surely targeting commanders during battle would introduce some element of danger depending on different cultures practices and at different times. Looking for references to any time or cultures, but obviously commanders leading troops into battle has become less prevalent in modern warfare.
Since this is such a broad question I will narrow it down to a very specific example in a point in time where casualties among commanders and officers were actually high : The Confederacy in the American Civil War.
In the Confederate Army, there was a strong social pressure to lead by example, from the front. There are numerous examples where officers incurred great personal risks at critical moments. Such as Stonewall Jackson's famous stand at First Bull Run, or at Antietam, where Col. Ransom of the 35th Caroline seized the colors and led the advance at the front.
Unfortunately for the Confederacy, commanders paid a high price for such bold leadership. Almost a quarter of all officers serving in the Confederacy were killed in action, and four of every five officers were either killed or wounded at least once. Officers were also twice as more likely to be killed in battle as were enlisted men, and more than one and a half times more likely to receive a wound. At Gettysburg, Lee had nearly of third of his general officers in the army killed, wounded or captured. The 18th Virginia as a specific example, lost 29 out of 31 officers in that engagement.
If by commanders, you were referring to commanders at the Corps level and above, the Confederacy suffered it's fair share as well, from Albert S. Johnston at Shiloh, Thomas Jackson at Chancellorsville or even wounded like Longstreet at the Wilderness.
Source: General Lee's Army : by Joseph Glatthaar
Hi there!
Could you narrow down your time frame and specify what period / examples you are referring to?
Thank you!