As late as 1874 Lee, in a letter to Hood, defended his attack at Ezra
Church, saying he still can't understand why it didn't succeed.

Hood was the one who asked for Lee's transfer to corps command, so Hood shares the blame for anything Lee did. Part of my article is an analysis of why Lee was promoted to corps command. Basically, Hood didn't think highly of any of the division commanders in his old corps, or in the army as a whole, so he went outside the army to bring in a stranger--and a cavalry commander to boot.