Winning battles can increase the generals' stats, but the improved numbers do not appear in the battle report. In a current game I am playing Gen. Morgan, who starts as a 6-4-4 has increased his abilities to 6-4-5. However, when he fights a battle, his stats are shown as 6-4-4 in the report window, which naturally makes me wonder if his improved stats are being used or not.
yes, the BR store the reference to the unit in the DB, not all data on all units participating in the battle, so this is normal to see the regular stats.
Hofstadter's Law: "It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law."