Lucy Brewer

Just having left the farm of her childhood and determined to avoid becoming a prostitute in Boston, Lucy Brewer, instead, donned the clothing of a man and signed up with the Marine Corps using the name “George Baker.” The War of 1812 was raging, so Brewer (as “Baker”) was assigned to the guard on the U.S.S. Constitution, better known as “Old Ironsides.” Three years later, she published her escapades, writing about her role as a marksman with a musket during the bloodiest battles of the war. Originally claiming that her writings were fabrication, the Marine Corps finally admitted in 2001 that she did what she said she did. Of course!