The Native American town of Greentown predated the arrival of settlers to the region, and the War of 1812 led to an increase in tension between Native Americans and the increasing number of settlers. The military feared that the British Army would recruit the Native Americans as allies. Colonel Samuel Kratzer received orders to remove the Native Americans, who were mostly from the Delaware tribe, to the Piqua Reservation as a precautionary measure, and he assigned Captain Douglas to the task.