For what it's worth, I read a fairly interesting book recently called Right Hand of Command , in which the author analyzes staff use by McClellan, Lee, Grant & Sherman. One of the author's criticisms of Lee was that "Lee had a personal staff, and they performed well the duties he gave them. But Lee never allowed himself a large staff and he never involved them in operational matters." Colonel Robert Chilson served as Lee's chief of staff, but he was "a chief in name only, performing duties little different from those of an assistant adjutant general. When attrition took members from his staff, Lee refused to replace them, choosing instead to heap excess work on the remaining staff officers. The small character of Lee's staff prompted Lee biographer Douglas Southall Freeman to comment that no other general "ever fought a campaign comparable to [Lee's of 1864] with only three men on his staff, and not one of them a professional soldier."'
Excellent observations. "He never involved them in operational matters" - this was certainly true at Gettysburg. Here are educational backgrounds of some of Lee's staff who were present at Gettysburg:
Colonel Robert Hall Chilton, AAG, U.S. Military Academy at West Point (USMA), graduated 1837 (ranked 48 of 50)
Colonel Armistead Lindsay Long, staff, USMA, graduated 1850 (ranked 17th)
Lt. Colonel Walter Herron Taylor, aide-de-camp, Virginia Military Institute, 1854-1855 (withdrew due to father’s death)
Major Charles Marshall, Major, aide-de-camp, University of Virginia, graduated 1858 with high honors; M.A.
Major Charles Scott Venable, Major, aide-de-camp, Hampden-Sydney College , graduated 1842; University of Virginia 1845-1848; spent 1-2 years at Universities of Berlin and Bonn; Franklin College, 1855-1857, Professor of Chemistry/Physics; South Carolina College, 1857-1861, Professor of Astronomy
Dr. Lafayette Guild, Medical Director of the Army of Northern Virginia, University of Alabama, graduated 1845; Jefferson Medical College, 1848, M.D.
Lt. Colonel Briscoe Gerald Baldwin, Jr., Chief Ordnance Officer, Virginia Military Institute, graduated 1848 (22 of 24)
Brig. General William N. Pendleton, Chief of Artillery, USMA, graduated 1830 (5 of 42)
Lieutenant Edmund Pendleton Dandridge, Asst. Adj. and Ins. Gen., University of Virginia, 1858, attended
Captain Henry Edward Young, Asst. Adj. Gen., College of Charleston, graduated 1851; attended schools in Germany
Lt. Colonel Robert Granderson Cole, Chief Commissary, USMA, graduated 1850 (37 of 44)
Lt. Colonel James L. Corley, Quartermaster, USMA, graduated 1850 (40 of 44)
Lt. Colonel William Proctor Smith, Engineering Officer, USMA, graduated 1857