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THE RETURN HOME.
THE first gun fired at the American Flag, on the 12th of April, 1861, at Fort Sumter, reverberated all over Europe, and was hailed with joy by the crowned heads of the Old World, who hated republican institutions, and who thought they saw, in this act of treason, the downfall of the great American experiment.

Most citizens, however, of the United States, who were then sojourning abroad, hastened home to take part in the struggle,--some to side with the rebels, others to take their stand with the friends of liberty.

Among the latter, none came with swifter steps or more zeal than Jerome and Clotelle Fletcher.

They arrived in New Orleans a week after the capture of that city by the expedition under the command of Major-Gen.