Eliza Allen " This article is about Eliza Allen of Maine . For Eliza Allen of Texas , the wife of Sam Houston , see his article . " Eliza Allen ( born January 27 , 1826 ) was a Maine woman 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 it , she described her life . As a teenager , she was not allowed to marry the man whom she loved , and so as a result , she disguised herself as a man and had many adventures , including fighting and being wounded in the Mexican - American War . She was also known as Eliza Billings ( the surname of her husband ) . Early life . Eliza Allen was born January 27 , 1826 , to one of the most prominent families in Maine and enjoyed a comfortable early life on the family ' s estate . Eliza was well - educated and enjoyed reading . A Canadian family by the name of Billings moved into the area and he and his oldest son , William , worked as day - laborers to support a large family . William Billings often worked for Eliza ' s father . The two met secretly , and Eliza and William fell in love . Eliza promised herself to William , though she knew her parents would not approve . When they found out , her parents threatened to disinherit her and throw her out of their home . William decided the Mexican - American War afforded him an opportunity to better himself in the eyes of his fiance ' s parents and volunteered for the U . S . Army . Eliza , who says in her autobiography that she had read about Deborah Sampson in the American Revolution and Lucy Brewer in the War of 1812 , determined that she would follow him and volunteered herself under the alias George Mead the next day . Adventures . Eliza describes her exploits , including two tours in the Mexican - American War and a period , still presenting herself as George Mead , in the California gold rush , in her memoir " The Female Volunteer ; or the Life , Wonderful Adventures and Miraculous Escapes of Miss Eliza Allen , A Young Lady of Eastport , Maine " . But several reputable sources , including a rare - book seller marketing a first edition question whether the book is historical or fiction . Others questioning the veracity of Eliza ' s purported exploits include Robert Walter Johannsen , in " To the Halls of the Montezumas : The Mexican War in the American Imagination " and Jeanne T . Heidler , in " Daily Lives of Civilians in Wartime Early America : From the Colonial Era to the Civil War " . In her emotional preface , Eliza warns parents against arranging marriages against their children ' s wishes or forbidding marriages based on love and claims she undertook her adventures in the name of love . For her first tour of duty , Eliza Allen / George Mead joined Gen . Zachary Taylor in Texas . When that tour ended without reuniting her with her fiance , she signed up for a second tour , this time joining Gen . Winfield Scott ' s spectacular amphibious assault on the Mexican port city of Veracruz ( March 1847 ) . She suffered a severe sword slash to her shoulder in Cerro Gordo and wound up in a makeshift hospital at the hacienda of Don Alphonzo in Mexico City - next to William , who had also been wounded at Cerro Gordo . Here , she does not reveal herself to William for fear of being discovered , but she does intrigue to test his love for her . It seems Don Alphonzo ' s daughters had fallen for " George Mead " - and their father , unlike her own , had agreed to allow them to determine whether Mead might be an appropriate son - in - law . But Eliza , instead , tries to turn them toward William Billings . But William stands up to the test , vowing he cannot think of another but his true love back home . As William and " George " recover , the war also ends , and they march with their compatriots to the seaboard where they ship off to New Orleans and then to New York to muster out . Eliza does not give up her male identity yet , though . She continues to hang around with William and his buddies , who ultimately gamble away their military pay at the hands of two men Eliza recognizes as slick swindlers while her friends do not . Having lost all their military pay , William and his friends decide to try their luck in the California gold rush - and again , Eliza follows . " George Mead " and his shipmates are a day behind William Billings , fortuitously , since Billings ship wrecks in the Straits of Magellan and he is among a handful of survivors picked up by the ship Eliza is travelling on . " Mead " helps to nurse Billings back to health . They arrive in San Francisco , where " Mead " - who still has his military pay - sets up the group with tools for prospecting . During this period , " Mead " and Billings rest side - by - side on a pallet , where " Mead " hears Billings tell of his love for Eliza . They and their mates regain some funds prospecting and wind up sailing from San Francisco back to Boston in September 1849 . In Boston , in an apparently disreputable boarding house , Billings and the men they ' ve traveled with are on the verge of losing all their money gambling again when Eliza determines to save him , this time by revealing herself to him . She parts company with them and checks herself into the Revere House , a good establishment , as Eliza Billings - sister to William Billings ( so that he can visit her there without scandal ) . Then she reveals herself to William , persuades him not to gamble , and , eventually , they marry - with her parents ' consent .