Replies

You're right about the formal assignment of responsibility, of course, but Lee was de facto head of the Confederate Army before becoming the de jure head, so he has some responsibility even if it were limited to giving good advice to Jefferson Davis.

And even taking your definition of his responsibilities as correct, there is little reason to support a raid into Pennsylvania as defense of Virginia and Richmond.

The rationale for that raid was that if he could lure the Army of the Potomac out and defeat it decisively, then the Union would give up. That is, in fact, a strategic rationale. It was just flawed both in appreciation of the situation (not likely that Lincoln would give up, and too far before the elections of 1864 to influence them directly), and in execution.

Again, I think Lee was a great general. He was tactically sound in most cases (all our generals, including Washington, lost battles so Gettysburg alone cannot negate all his spectacular successes) and probably unmatched as a personal motivator of men. But he doesn't quite rise to the first rank as I would prioritize the qualities of a general.