Lees Army of Northern Virgina made it all the way north to Gettysburg PA. Seems to me he was planning on defeating the Union army, cut off Washington DC and maybe keeping heading east towards Philadelphia and then maybe on to New York and Boston. In any event had he prevailed at Gettysburg Jeff Davis would have been in a position to dictate terms to Lincoln. Sounds like a plan to control things to me Reb. And lets not forget 4/12/61 and who fired first.
Study the timeline. The South fought south of the Potomac until Gettysburg. Gettysburg was a tactical move to get behind the union army, force it to surrender, and thus make the North leave the South the hell alone.
Had the Lincoln not wanted a war, there would have been no war. That is a simple, clear fact.