Circumstances make history interesting. JEBS was a no show at Gettysburg and Lee had counted on him. Lee's decision to hold his Generals back from attacking, like Pickett when he entered and could've easily beat the Union forces was the first of a cascade of mistakes that cost him the battle. Had Lee listened to Longstreet he'd have avoided the catastrophe that ensued. Lee was an offensive tactician and Longstreet was a defensive tactician. In the fog of war little mistakes and circumstances that arise make a lot of difference.
Had Lee won Gettysburg the war would've likely been prolonged and inevitable defeat of the south cost much more in lives for both sides. The North did not play well nor did the South on occasion. It's just the cost of mayhem and individual opportunity for mayhem in war.
Custer suffered the same fate, I think. He was a controversial figure. I read that he and his brother were hated but his brother more than he for what he did to Indians. in my mind Little big Horn was sort of a glimpse of what it would have been like if Lee had won Gettysburg. It prolonged the inevitable.
