Charles Turner (British Army officer)

Major-general Charles Turner (? – 11 March 1826) was a British Army officer and colonial governor.

Career
Turner became an ensign in the 2nd (The Queen's Royal) Regiment of Foot on 21 October 1795. After promotion to lieutenant, he saw service in Ireland and captured the Irish revolutionary Napper Tandy. Refusing to accept the reward offered for Tandy's capture, on 8 June 1803 the British government instead presented Turner with a Company in the Royal African Corps. He became a major in the Royal West India Rangers and was promoted to lieutenant-colonel on 28 May 1807. During the Peninsular War, Turner lost an arm at the Siege of Badajoz and retired on half-pay on 25 December 1818. Turner was awarded the Portuguese Commander of the Order of the Tower and Sword and the Turkish Order of the Crescent.

Sierra Leone
Following the death of the incumbent Charles MacCarthy in the First Anglo-Ashanti War (1823-1831), Turner became Captain-general and Governor-in-Chief of Sierra Leone and its dependancies. He arrived on the Cape Coast around the end of March 1825 along with 200 men of the Royal Africa Corps and 200 from the 2nd West India Regiment from Sierra Leone. In September 1825, Turner negotiated a treaty on behalf of the British government with the Sherbro king, Banka whereby the British obtained further territory from the local tribespeople.