On 8 May, the squadron departed York to transport troops and provisions of General Dearborn's army for the campaign on the Niagara Peninsula. On 27 May, "Julia" and led the flotilla into the Niagara River to open an attack on Fort George by shelling a British battery dug in near the lighthouse. The other American ships took pre-assigned positions where they shelled targets ashore. Meanwhile, Captain Oliver Hazard Perry directed the disembarkation of troops. In three hours, the carefully coordinated attack drove the defenders from the field.