to nothing through the hostility of Russia, and Turner served in 1636 at the siege of Osnaburg, and at that of Fürstenau in 1637. He was promoted successively ensign, lieutenant, and captain. After an abortive visit to Scotland in 1639 in search of employment there, he returned to Germany, and in 1640 proceeded to Stockholm to prosecute before chancellor Oxenstiern a complaint against his superior officer, Burgsdorff.
From Gothenburg Turner, according to his own account, endeavoured to reach Hull in order to offer his services to Charles I, but, failing in the attempt, he returned to Scotland, and then made his way to the headquarters of the covenanting army at Newcastle. Here, through the influence of the Earl of Rothes, he was appointed major in the Earl of Kirkcudbright's regiment, but never took the covenant. After ten months' service with the Scots army of occupation in England, Turner was appointed major in Lord Sinclair's regiment and sent to Ireland to aid the Ulster Scots against the Irish rebels. He served in the garrison at Newry and in several minor engagements against Owen Roe O'Neill [q. v.], but in 1644 delivered Newry to the English and returned to Scotland, where only the failure of his expedition in April prevented him from joining Montrose [see Graham, James, fifth Earl and first Marquis of Montrose]. He reluctantly retained his commission in the covenanting army, and with it invaded England in 1645; it penetrated as far as Hereford, when the battle of Naseby practically ended the war. During Charles I's sojourn with the Scots army in 1646, Turner had interviews with him and pressed upon him the necessity of escaping. In 1647 he was made adjutant-general of the Scots army.
In 1648 Turner welcomed the proposal of the Duke of Hamilton and the committee of Scottish estates to send an army into England to rescue the king. He was sent to Glasgow to raise levies and enforce obedience to the decrees of the committee, and while there ‘anticipated the methods by which Louis XIV afterwards attempted to convert the Huguenots,’ by quartering soldiers on the refractory inhabitants—a method which he found effectual with the most stubborn covenanters (Gardiner, Civil War, iv. 155, 182; Turner, Memoirs, pp. 53 et seq.). Turner accompanied Hamilton in the invasion of England, and at a council of war held at Hornby on 13 Aug. urged Hamilton to turn aside into Yorkshire and meet the enemy. His advice was rejected, Cromwell routed the Scots at Preston, and Turner capitulated to Lilburne at Uttoxeter on the 25th (Hist. MSS. Comm. 11th Rep. App. pt. vi. p. 129). He was taken to Hull, where he remained a prisoner in the custody of Colonel Robert Overton [q. v.] from September 1648 until November 1649. He was then released by Fairfax on condition of going abroad for twelve months, and retired to Hamburg, whence he made his way to Breda.
Inability to raise money prevented Turner from joining Montrose's ill-fated expedition in January 1650, but he made his way to Scotland in September, landing near Aberdeen on the 2nd, the day before Dunbar. That defeat made the covenanters more tolerant of their episcopalian countrymen, and Turner denounces the hypocrisy which led them to accept as genuine oaths to the covenant which they knew to be counterfeit (Gardiner, Commonwealth and Protectorate, i. 420). Turner was himself ‘absolved’ after some difficulty, and was appointed colonel and adjutant-general of foot. In this capacity he accompanied Charles II to the battle of Worcester (3 Sept. 1651). He was taken prisoner and sent up to London, but escaped on the way at Oxford. He then walked to London, where he lay hid for a time, and afterwards joined Charles at Paris, where he remained two or three months and learnt the language. For two years he spent most of his time at Amsterdam or Bremen. In June 1654 he landed in Fife on a rash expedition to inquire into the chances of a royalist rising there. His report was unfavourable, but he got away safely and for three years more was engaged in royalist missions on the continent. In 1657 he went with John, first earl of Middleton [q. v.], to Danzig to offer his services to Casimir, king of Poland, against Cromwell's ally, Charles Gustavus of Sweden. Poland was, however, overrun by Swedes, and Turner, after some delay at Danzig, sought employment in Denmark against the Swedes. Peace between the two countries compelled him to return to Breda, where he was in attendance upon Charles II during 1659–60.
At the Restoration Turner was knighted; in an undated petition (Addit. MS. 23117, f. 1) he requested a ‘gratuity’ for his services, and in August 1662 he was appointed sergeant-major of the king's foot-guards in Scotland. He received a commission as major on 12 Feb. 1663–4, and in July following was employed as one of the visitors of Glasgow University (Munimenta Univ. Glasguensis, ii. 476, 478, 481, 486). On 28 July 1666 he was made lieutenant-colonel; he was in command of the forces in
