The shocking victory at the Battle of Kemp’s LandingKemp’s Landing and DunmoreDunmore’s subsequent proclamationemancipation proclamation evoked fear among Virginia Patriots. It also instilled a sense of pride and confidence among Loyalists, both white and Black. Sensing the momentum, as well as the prospect of the mobilization of thousands of slave soldiers, Dunmore and hundreds of Black soldiers marched south in search of more recruits and more Patriots. As they moved they received intelligence that Patriot resistance was mobilizing too, and that Patriot commanders were preparing to meet the Black soldiers on the battlefield. These opposing forces would eventually collide just a dozen miles north of the Virginia-North Carolina border at a critical water crossing on the south branch of the Elizabeth River. They would meet at a place called Great BridgeGreat Bridge.