Eliza Allen (Maine)

**Eliza Allen** (Janairu 27, 1826 - bayan 1851) marubuciya ce 'yar Amurka daga Maine wadda, a shekarar 1851, ta buga wani littafi mai suna *The Female Volunteer; Ko kuma Life and Wonderful Adventures of Miss Eliza Allen, A Young Lady of Eastport, Maine* . A cikin littafin, ta bayyana yadda a lokacin da take matashiya, ba a ba ta izinin auren mutumin da take ƙauna ba, don haka ta ɓoye kanta a matsayin namiji kuma ta yi kasada da yawa, ciki har da faɗa da rauni a Yaƙin Mexico da Amurka,  kodayake wasu majiyoyi suna shakkar gaskiyar ikirarinta.   An kuma san ta da Eliza Billings (sunan mahaifin mijinta).

## Rayuwar farko
An haifi Eliza Allen a ranar 27 ga Janairu, 1826, ga ɗaya daga cikin fitattun iyalai a Maine  kuma ta ji daɗin rayuwa mai daɗi a farkon gidan dangin. Eliza ta kasance mai ilimi sosai kuma tana jin daɗin karatu. ✓Wani iyali ɗan ƙasar Kanada mai suna Billings ya ƙaura zuwa yankin kuma mahaifin iyalin da babban ɗansa, William, sun yi aiki a matsayin masu aikin yini don tallafa wa babban iyalinsu. William Billings sau da yawa yana aiki ga mahaifin Eliza. Eliza da William sun haɗu a ɓoye, kuma sun kamu da soyayya tun tana ɗan shekara 20.  Eliza ta yi alƙawarin auren William, duk da cewa ta san iyayenta ba za su amince ba. Da suka gano, iyayenta sun yi barazanar raba ta da gadonta su kore ta daga gidansu. 

William ya yanke shawarar zama ɗan ƙasar Mexico—Yaƙin Amurka ya ba shi damar inganta kansa a idanun iyayen saurayinsa kuma ya yi aikin sa kai ga Rundunar Sojan Amurka . Eliza, wacce ta ce a cikin tarihin rayuwarta cewa ta karanta game da Deborah Sampson a juyin juya halin Amurka da Lucy Brewer a Yaƙin 1812, ta ƙuduri aniyar cewa za ta bi shi.  Ta aske gashinta, ta saka kayan maza, sannan ta yi tafiya zuwa Portland, Maine  ta kuma yi aikin sa kai a ƙarƙashin sunan George Mead washegari.

## Aikin soja kamar yadda aka bayyana a cikin ''Mace Mai Sa-kai''
Eliza ta bayyana abubuwan da ta fuskanta, ciki har da rangadin yawon shakatawa guda biyu a Yaƙin Mexican - Yaƙin Amurka da kuma wani lokaci, wanda har yanzu yana gabatar da kansa a matsayin George Mead, a cikin tseren zinare na California, a cikin tarihin rayuwarta *The Female Volunteer; ko Life, Wonderful Adventures and Miraculous Escapes of Miss Eliza Allen, A Young Lady of Eastport, Maine* .  Amma majiyoyi da dama masu daraja, ciki har da mai sayar da littattafai masu wuya yana tallata bugu na farko  tambaya ko littafin tarihi ne ko almara. Wasu kuma da ke tambayar gaskiyar abubuwan da Eliza ta yi ikirarin yi sun haɗa da Robert Walter Johannsen, a cikin *To the Halls of the Montezumas: The Mexico War in the American Imagination*  da Jeanne T. Heidler, a cikin *Daily Lives of Civilians in Wartime Early America: From the Colonial Era to the Civil War* . 

A cikin gabatarwarta mai cike da motsin rai, Eliza ta yi gargaɗi ga iyaye game da shirya aure ba tare da son 'ya'yansu ba ko kuma hana auren soyayya kuma ta yi iƙirarin cewa ta yi abubuwan da suka faru da ita da sunan soyayya. 

A rangadin aikinta na farko, Allen, wacce ta yi shigar burtu a matsayin George Mead, ta yi yaƙi a ƙarƙashin Janar Zachary Taylor a Texas. Allen ta kasance wani ɓangare na nasarar da Amurka ta samu a Monterrey a watan Satumba na 1846.  Lokacin da wannan rangadin ya ƙare kuma Allen bai sake haɗuwa da saurayinta ba, ta yi rajista don rangadin karo na biyu, a wannan karon ta haɗu da yaƙin da Janar Winfield Scott ya yi da Veracruz a watan Maris na 1847. Ta sha mummunan sara a kafaɗarta a Yaƙin Cerro Gordo  kuma ta raunata a wani asibiti na wucin gadi a hacienda na Don Alphonzo a Mexico City - kusa da William, wanda shi ma ya ji rauni a Cerro Gordo.  A nan, ba ta bayyana kanta ga William ba saboda tsoron a gano ta, amma tana da sha'awar gwada ƙaunarsa a gare ta.

A cewar Allen, 'ya'yan Don Alphonzo sun kamu da son "George Mead"—kuma mahaifinsu, ba kamar nata ba, ya yarda ya bar su su tantance ko Mead zai iya zama surukin da ya dace. Amma Eliza, maimakon haka, ta yi ƙoƙarin mayar da su ga William Billings. Amma William ya tsaya tsayin daka kan gwajin, yana mai alƙawarin ba zai iya tunanin wata ba sai ƙaunarsa ta gaskiya a gida. 

Yayin da William da "George" suka murmure, yaƙin ya kuma ƙare, kuma suka yi tafiya tare da 'yan ƙasarsu zuwa gabar teku inda suka bar New Orleans sannan suka koma New York. Eliza ba ta bar asalin namijinta ba tukuna. Ta ci gaba da kasancewa tare da William da abokansa, waɗanda daga ƙarshe suka yi caca da albashin soja a hannun mutane biyu da Eliza ta gane a matsayin masu zamba yayin da abokanta ba su yi ba. Bayan sun rasa duk albashin soja, William da abokansa sun yanke shawarar gwada sa'arsu a cikin neman zinare a California - kuma Eliza ta biyo baya. "George Mead" da abokan aikinsa suna bayan William Billings kwana ɗaya, da rashin sa'a, tun lokacin da jirgin Billings ya yi hatsari a Mashigar Magellan kuma yana cikin 'yan tsira da jirgin Eliza ke tafiya a kai ya ɗauke su. "Mead" yana taimakawa wajen dawo da lafiyar Billings. 

Sun isa San Francisco, inda "Mead" - wanda har yanzu yana da albashinsa na soja - ya kafa ƙungiyar da kayan aikin neman bayanai . A wannan lokacin, "Mead" da Billings sun kwanta a gefe ɗaya a kan wani katifa, inda "Mead" ya ji Billings yana ba da labarin ƙaunarsa ga Eliza. Su da abokansu sun sami wasu kuɗaɗen neman bayanai kuma suka kammala tafiya daga San Francisco zuwa Boston a watan Satumba na 1849. 

Allen ta sake haɗuwa da ƙungiyarta a Yaƙin Mexico City .  Daga nan Allen ta shiga cikin mamayar birnin Mexico har zuwa 1848. Ta yi tafiya tare da rundunarta zuwa New York kuma aka sallame ta. 

## Bayan yaƙin
A Boston, a cikin wani gidan kwana da aka yi masa mummunar suna, Billings da mutanen da suka yi tafiya tare suna gab da rasa duk kuɗinsu na caca lokacin da Eliza ta yanke shawarar cetonsa, a wannan karon ta hanyar bayyana kanta gare shi. Ta rabu da su ta kuma duba kanta a cikin Revere House, wani kyakkyawan wuri, kamar Eliza Billings—'yar'uwar William Billings (don ya ziyarce ta a can ba tare da wata matsala ba). Sannan ta bayyana kanta ga William, ta shawo kansa kada ya yi caca, kuma, daga ƙarshe, suka yi aure - da yardar iyayenta.

Allen ta buga tarihin rayuwarta a shekarar 1851.  Ya yi kama da sauran tarihin rayuwarta na lokacin game da mata waɗanda suka yi ɓoye a matsayin maza. 

## Manazarta