Colonel Ball simply stated to General Patrick that before delivering the letter to the civil authorities it must be referred to his commanding military officer. But neither he nor the Mayor gave any intimation of the actual presence of General Lee, with a large part of his army, on the heights in rear of the town. General Patrick was obliged to remain in the log house from ten o'clock in the morning to seven in the afternoon, on the 21st. Meanwhile Colonel Ball, through the proper channels forwarded the letter to General Lee. At twenty minutes before five o'clock in the afternoon the letter was received at his office by the Mayor, through General J. E. B. Stuart, who communicated in full General Lee's decision. With the aid of his advisers, Mayor Slaughter prepared a written reply, bearing date, "Mayor's Office, Fredericksburg, November 21st, 1862." This reply was to the effect that the communication of General Sumner had not reached the Mayor in time to furnish a reply by 5 o'clock P. M., as requested; that it had been sent to him after passing (by General Patrick's consent) through the hands of the commanding officer of the Confederate States forces near the town; that as to the shots complained of in the northern suburbs of the town, they were the acts of the Confederate military force holding the town; that the Mayor was authorized to say that the several subjects of complaint would not recur; that the Confederate troops would not occupy the town, and neither would they permit the Federal troops to do so. Mayor Slaughter, attended by Dr. Wm. S. Scott and Samuel S. Howison, Esq., repaired to the place of meeting, and, at about seven o'clock in the evening, delivered the reply to General Patrick. In view of the threatened shelling of the town, General Lee advised the inhabitants to remove from it as rapidly as possible. The bombardment was not opened the next morning, but it became apparent that the enemy would cross, and the town would be exposed, not only to their fire, but to the most terrible desolations of war. The humane and considerate Chief of the Confederate army urged the women and children to leave the town, and furnished wagons, ambulances and every facility in his power for their aid. THE INHABITANTS LEAVE THEIR HOMES.