I disagree. The North's aggressive invasion/occupation of Alexandria is what sent lee over the edge.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...01/AFaqCAwC_story.html?utm_term=.08a1ab4d7d95
When Virginians voted overwhelmingly to secede from the Union on May 23, 1861, the inhabitants of Alexandria — the ones who had not yet fled, leaving it a virtual ghost town — knew that life soon would change.
It changed quickly.
At dawn the next morning, thousands of federal troops poured in from Washington to seize the once-tranquil city, perched on the banks of the Potomac at a literal crossroads between North and South. They came by steamboat down the river. They marched across the Aqueduct (where the Key Bridge now stands) and Long Bridge (now the 14th Street Bridge), working their way south toward Alexandria.
Doesn't matter what sent Lee over the edge. Fact is the Confederacy attacked the USA.