During the convention, another Lord Dunmore episode took place. Lord Dunmore had become a real threat to the Virginians because, after he had fled from Williamsburg and from Yorktown, he armed many Negroes and persuaded them to fight for the King in return for their future freedom. He commanded a force which at this time was in possession of Norfolk and its adjacent areas. Eight days after the convention began, Lord Dunmore dispatched a few of his British regulars to attack some of the Virginian troops under Colonel William Woodford. These Virginians had constructed a breastwork along the southern branch of the Elizabeth River, approximately twelve miles from Norfolk. Colonel Woodford's Virginia troops killed almost all the British regulars, much to the surprise of Lord Dunmore, who quickly retreated to a part of the British fleet docked in Norfolk harbor. Later, while the convention was still in session, on January 1, 1776, Lord Dunmore with a small land and sea force bombarded and burned Norfolk itself which consisted of about 6,000 residents at the time. Many houses were completely burned and others badly damaged. St. Paul's Church was the only building to survive this bombardment and embedded cannon balls in the south wall of the church may still be seen which were fired from the ships in the harbor. Dunmore and his forces finally sailed up the Chesapeake Bay and stationed themselves off Gwynn's Island, near the present Mathews County mainland. From this area, Dunmore and his friends made repeated plunder attacks along the coast of Virginia until summer.