My own view is that relationship between the Southern Soldier and the Southern General tended to be one of mutual confidence and thus they worked well as a team. If anything I think sometimes Lee had too much confidence in the abilities of his troops and often expected more from them than was reasonable.

From what I have read the Union soldier seemed to have confidence in his generals too, but I get the distinct impression that at least in the early stages of the war this confidence was not returned and that this led to the caution and reluctance to of Union generals to engage.