A supporter of military intervention by the Protestant William of Orange against James II, in early 1688 he joined a regiment of the Anglo-Scots Brigade, a mercenary unit in the Dutch States Army.

[1] According to his own account, Tollemache spent several years travelling in Europe before returning to England in 1668, when he attended Queens' College, Cambridge, followed by legal training at the Inner Temple.

[1] In 1678, he was commissioned into the English Army at the rank of captain in the Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, with which he served with the Tangier Garrison, along with Percy Kirke and Charles Trelawny.

[2] In early 1688, he joined one of the regiments in the Anglo-Scots Brigade, a long established mercenary unit in the Dutch army and accompanied William of Orange during the November 1688 Glorious Revolution.

[1] In 1694 Tollemache led an assault on the port of Brest; warned of the proposed attack, the French under Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban reinforced the garrison and strengthened the defences.