Harper’s Weekly, January 4, 1862

THE FIRE AT CHARLESTON.

Somewhat fuller particulars of the great fire in Charleston have reached us by way of Fortress Monroe. The Courier, published on the 14th, gives a list of between two and three hundred sufferers (property owners) by the fire, and estimates the loss at seven millions of dollars ; and the Mercury of the same date gives a list of five hundred and seventy-six buildings, which were totally destroyed on Wednesday alone. Five churches were burned, and various prominent public buildings used for secular purposes. The Richmond papers state that a Message was sent to the Confederate Congress, on Friday, by Jeff Davis, in which he recommended relief for the sufferers, and two hundred and fifty thousand dollars were accordingly voted the next day—an advance upon the claims of South Carolina upon the rebel Government.