Alexandria Gazette, Commercial And Political

Petersburg, July 18. OVERWHELMING CALAMITY!

Our day of dreadful visitation has at length arrived--two thirds of the late flourishing town of Petersburg are in ruins. About 9 o'clock on Sunday night, the appalling cry of fire sounded in our ears, and in an instant after, the alarm bells confirmed the mournful truth. The flames were seen to issue from a stable in the rear of the dwelling-house occupied by Mr. John Walker, on Bolling-brook street, and in the midst of a cluster of old wooden buildings, whose combustible materials spread the destroying element with electric velocity. In a moment the flames spread far and wide, levelling in their course both sides of Bolling-brook, and the north side of Back street, while the market square, & all the adjacent buildings shared a similar fate. It was hoped that the stillness of the night and the width of Sycamore street would stay the progress of the fire in that direction. Vain hope! Notwithstanding a number of houses were blown up to arrest its progress, the flames caught on the west side of Sycamore, & in a few hours prostrated every house except two or three, as far as the little bridge. The fire was at length arrested at opposite points on Old street, having consumed the houses to the little bridge on both sides of the street, except the new building of Mr. John B. Read, sweeping with the besom of destruction, almost every house to the river's edge. At day break yesterday morning, the fire began to subside, having raged with unabated fury, nine hours and destroyed a mass of property which it is fearful to calculate. Persons who never saw Petersburg, may form some idea of our dreadful situation, when we state that not more than a dozen stores of any magnitude, escaped destruction.

We regret to state that several lives were lost by the blowing up of houses-- but we cannot obtain positive information as to the persons, except one, whose name was Samuel Myers, a native of Baltimore, and who was in the employ of Mr. Thos. Wallace.

Neither our time, nor our limited information, nor our exhausted spirits, will allow us to particularize. Suffice it to say, it has indeed been a season of dreadful visitation to our town. Before Friday, we shall endeavor to procure full information on this distressing subject.

Republican,