It appears to me that it was hard to get Southern support for a Northern invasion. Many southerners obviously wanted to take the fight to the North and Lee knew that it had to be done in order to win, although the majority of southerners didn’t buy off on it. As an alternative, it appears that Lee hoped to hold out until the North would negotiate an acceptable truce. I think it can be effectively argued that Lee was much smarter than Grant but his Army had finally run out of steam by the time Grant came along so, since history is written by those that prevail, Grant is portrayed as a hero and Lee is portrayed as the villain.
There’s a lot of truth to that, but I don’t thing Robert E. Lee is seen as a villain, except by a handful of revisionists and bigots who hate America in general. I’m a Yankee and I have nothing but respect for General Lee — and most of the Confederate commanders for that matter.They were, for the most part, honorable men, as were their Union counterparts.
Cite a history of the war written before 1965 that portrays Lee as a “villain”