For several months, British batteries on the other side of the Niagara prevented "Caledonia" and several other schooners which had been purchased by the Navy and were converted into gunboats from leaving Black Rock. On 26 May, the British were defeated at the Battle of Fort George at the foot of the river and were compelled to abandon Fort Erie and the nearby batteries. Lieutenant Oliver Hazard Perry had "Caledonia" and the other vessels towed by oxen up the fast-flowing river, an operation that took several days. He then sailed with them along the southern shore of Lake Erie to Presque Isle, where the other vessels of his squadron were being constructed.