The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
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Author: Andrew Steven Doss
William Turner was born about 1753, at Halifax County, Virginia, a son of Shadrach Turner. He married Jane Hunter of Louisa County.
Turner enlisted as a private in the Henry County, Virginia, Militia. He stated in his pension application:
In the year previous to the taking of Cornwallis, Colonel Robert Wood of Franklin County ordered a volunteer company of 18 men to be made up for the purpose of pressing persons and taking deserters. This applicant and 17 more volunteered and several such for twelve months in the county of Franklin. Among the names were John Turner, William Turner and John Hunter... that during that year they were constantly engaged in pressing horses to carry forage and baggage to the army, and hunting out deserters.
Many men who brought in a deserter and delivered him to a proper officer would get credit for three months’ tour of active duty. Confiscation of foodstuffs and horses to supply Major General Nathanael Greene’s Southern Department of the Continental Army was an unpopular necessity. William McCraw, the assistant deputy quartermaster for Virginia, was responsible in southern Virginia for collecting supplies for the Continentals, and William Turner followed McCraw’s orders as part of his militia duties.
Turner’s name is listed on a Henry County “List of Tax” documenting the payment was “…for raising a supply of money for the Service of the United States.” It was collected by the county sheriff, February 20, 1780. Turner’s name also appears on the muster list of a company commanded by Captain John Cunningham when it was called to active duty, March 11, 1781.
The Henry County Militia marched south toward Greene’s army as it maneuvered to confront Lord Cornwallis’ Royal Army at Guilford Courthouse near present-day Greensboro, North Carolina. The men in the Henry County Militia reported they could hear the guns in the background as they marched toward the battle. They met Greene’s retreating army at its’ supply base at Speedwell Furnace on Troublesome Creek, Rockingham County, North Carolina. Turner and his compatriots waited for Cornwallis to attack, but instead, the British commander collected his wounded and retreated toward Wilmington, North Carolina. Turner and other Henry County Militia members remained on duty and shadowed Lord Cornwallis’ Royal Army for ten days or about as far as Cross Creek before returning to Henry County and being released from active duty.
William Turner’s name appears among the Henry County militiamen who were present with Greene’s army during the Siege of Ninety-Six, South Carolina in 1781.
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