Oh, and by the way -- I've read somewhere that Longstreet advocated the Chickamauga action earlier in the year. It was his contribution to the discussion of the 1863 campaign, and it was turned down in favor of Lee's idea. Lee invaded the North twice, I think to menace the merchants of the Middle Atlantic states, but I'm not sure what his real objective was -- given that he'd have a Union army twice his size between him and home at all times, if the Union commander were halfway intelligent.
In any case, Longstreet's ideas were shot down, and Lee's proposals were approved, and the rest, as they say, is history.
I'll agree with
most of what you say. Let us remember though that Longstreet was capable of making mistakes as was demonstrated at Fort Sanders in Knoxville on his way back to Virginia. He took the blame for that fiasco.
Lee's ultimate objective in invading the North was to take the war onto their soil in an attempt to demorilize them. Facing twice his number (or better) was nothing new to him. He was convinced that the North was growing tired of the war and thought that if the war could be shifted from Southern ground to Northern ground they would sue for peace. What he needed to pull that off was victory , but victory eluded him. The subsequent Union victories served to strengthen, not weaken, their resolve.