Eliza Allen

Eliza Allen (January 27, 1826 – after 1851) was an American writer from Maine who, in 1851, published a memoir called The Female Volunteer; Or the Life and Wonderful Adventures of Miss Eliza Allen, A Young Lady of Eastport, Maine. In the book, she describes how as a teenager, she was not allowed to marry the man whom she loved, and so she disguised herself as a man and had many adventures, including fighting and being wounded in the Mexican–American War, though some sources question the veracity of her claims. She was also known as Eliza Billings (the surname of her husband).