I'm pretty sure you can fill your boots when it comes to primary sources of Lees conduct as an army commander
But it doesn't matter if anyone lists negative sources about Lee as army commander because they will be dismissed outright by the same people over and over again just like in the other thread where eyewitness accounts are deemed false or slandering to Lee's character.
The OP wants and unbiased opinion , He wont get it here imo.
Oh I think we can find some good words about General Lee's character outside the Confederacy. Here's a few (includes two from post-war Presidents).
From General Sherman [link]
" ... General Wolseley describes his personal acquaintance in 1862 with that famous man, the great impression made by his graceful manner and profound intelligence, and concludes with the following paragraph: “When all the angry feelings roused by secession are buried with those which existed when the Declaration of Independence was written, when Americans can review the history of their last great rebellion with calm impartiality, I believe all will admit that General Lee towered far above all men on either side in that struggle. I believe he will be regarded, not only as the most prominent figure of the Confederacy, but as the great American of the nineteenth century, whose statue is well worthy to stand on an equal pedestal with that of Washington, and whose memory is equally worthy to be enshrined in the hearts of all his countrymen.”
As I happen to be one of the very few survivors of the great Civil War in America who had a personal and professional acquaintance with the chief actors in that grand drama, I am compelled to join issue with General Wolseley in his conclusion, while willing to admit nearly all his premises."
Arthur Freemantle's (Coldstream Guards) diary in relation to Lee's General Orders No. 72 [Diary link]
I returned to camp at 6 P. M, Major Moses did not get back till very late, much depressed at the ill-success of his mission. He had searched all day most indefatigably, and had endured much contumely from the Union ladies, who called him a "thievish little rebel scoundrel," and other opprobrious epithets. But this did not annoy him so much as the manner in which every thing he wanted had been sent away or hidden in private houses, which he was not allowed by General Lee's orders to search. He had only managed to secure a quantity of molasses, sugar, and whisky. Poor Moses was thoroughly exhausted; but he endured the chaff of his brother officers with much good humor, and they made him continually repeat the different names he had been called. He said that at first the women refused his Confederate "trash" with great scorn, but they ended in being very particular about the odd cents.
29
th June, Monday.--We are still at Chambersburg.
Lee has issued a remarkably good order on non-retaliation, which is generally well received; but I have heard of complaints from fire-eaters, who want vengeance for their wrongs; and when one considers the numbers of officers and soldiers with this army who have been totally ruined by the devastations of Northern troops, one cannot be much surprised at this feeling.
I went into Chambersburg again, and witnessed the singular good behavior of the troops towards the citizens. I heard the soldiers saying to one another, that they did not like being in a town in which they were very naturally detested.
To any one who has seen as I have the ravages of the Northern troops in Southern towns, this forbearance seems most commendable and surprising. Yet these Pennsylvanian Dutch
*
* This part of Pennsylvania is much peopled with the descendants of Germans, who speak an unintelligible language.
don't seem the least thankful, and really
appear to be unaware that their own troops have been for two years treating Southern towns with ten times more harshness. They are the most unpatriotic people I ever saw, and openly state that they don't care which side wins, provided they are left alone. They abuse Lincoln tremendously.
President T Roosevelt [link]
General Lee has left us the memory, not merely of his extraordinary skill as a General, his dauntless courage and high leadership in campaign and battle, but also of
that serene greatness of soul characteristic of those who most readily recognize the obligations of civic duty. Once the war was over he instantly undertook the task of healing and binding up the wounds of his countrymen, in the true spirit of those who feel malice toward none and charity toward all; in that spirit which from the throes of the Civil War brought forth the real and indissoluble Union of to-day. It was eminently fitting that
this great man, this war-worn veteran of a mighty struggle, who, at its close, simply and quietly undertook his duty as a plain, everyday citizen, bent only upon helping his people in the paths of peace and tranquillity, should turn his attention toward educational work; toward bringing up in fit fashion the younger generation, the sons of those who had proved their faith by their endeavor in the heroic days.
There is no need to dwell on General Lee's record as a soldier. The son of Light Horse Harry Lee, of the Revolution, he came naturally by his aptitude for arms and command. His campaigns put him in the foremost rank of the great captains of all time. But
his signal valor and address in war are no more remarkable than the spirit in which he turned to the work of peace once the war was over.
President D Eisenhower [link]
General Robert E. Lee was, in my estimation,
one of the supremely gifted men produced by our Nation.
He believed unswervingly in the Constitutional validity of his cause which until 1865 was still an arguable question in America;
he was a poised and inspiring leader, true to the high trust reposed in him by millions of his fellow citizens; he was
thoughtful yet demanding of his officers and men, forbearing with captured enemies but ingenious, unrelenting and personally courageous in battle, and never disheartened by a reverse or obstacle. Through all his many trials, he remained selfless almost to a fault and unfailing in his faith in God. Taken altogether,
he was noble as a leader and as a man, and unsullied as I read the pages of our history.