in the first fight he was taken by surprised, which uh famously was a weakness of ol honest abe

in the next fight from his perspective the last thing he remembers was being betrayed by someone he trusted brutally murder all his friends and then him, I think even the most cold calculating strategist would be blinded by rage

also strategists can stay calm because they have a degree of detachment making calls from a war room, most of them would not be nearly as cool headed when their on the front lines seeing people die with their own eyes