Quote Originally Posted by Omanes Alexandrapolites
I'm not too sure about that redriver. In my experience, if the main general dies/runs away, the second guy simply acts as heavy cavalry - he never seems to take command. However, he still, strangely, gets traits out of the battle such as Good Commander, even though he was not commanding it. The same is often true for Captains and the man-of-the-hour event - my Captain died, but the new Captain of the army gained the prestigious reward of adoption.
This has happened to me as well. It was very nice to get a free general with 2 command stars when my old general died because I wasn't paying attention.