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General Lee's objective was to induce the Union Army to disperse across a broad front along the Mason-Dixon line, and then, by maneuver, draw it to a point far from its base of supply where it could be attacked and beaten in detail.

Then he really messed that plan up. How do you explain Pickett's Charge? It seems only you and General Longstreet believed that fable.

Here's a more accurate description of the raid from somebody as close to the top as possible, General Lee himself in his post campaign report:

"It had not been intended to deliver a general battle so far from our base unless attacked."

Why did he travel then if not to fight an engagement unless under narrow and favorable circumstances? Maybe Lee wanted his boys to see a little more of the world, just a tourist excursion and educational expedition.

Lee lost his head at Gettysburg but the #1 mission of the raid was taking Yankee supplies, why else would he have sent Ewell so far away from the rest of the army? That does not sound like the move of a general who has fighting, not foraging, on the top of the list.