(b. ca.1793)
By her own account, the first woman U.S. Marine. Born in the late 1700s, on a farm 40 miles outside Boston, Massachusetts, Lucy Brewer supposedly disguised herself as a man and served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the War of 1812, serving on the USS Constitution. As a sixteen year old, a trader’s son seduced her. Leaving her family, she journeyed to Boston, seeking anonymity and sanctuary for herself and her unborn child. When she could not secure employment, she found lodging at a brothel. After the death of her newborn daughter, Brewer apparently assumed the life of a prostitute. After three years, according to her accounts, she learned about cross-dressing. In male attire, she experienced complete freedom as George Baker and was able to ignore female gender roles of nineteenth-century U.S. society. That she enlisted in the U.S. Marines during the War of 1812 and served with patriotic distinction during three sea battles aboard the USS Constitution is a legend. The U.S. Marines regard Brewer’s claim as a colorful story. She recounted her supposed adventure in The Female Marine; or, Adventures of Miss Lucy Brewer. She also used the pseudonym Louisa Baker in some of her writings. According to her account, she returned home after her maritime exploits, redeemed and welcomed back into her family. She eventually married, becoming what nineteenth-century respectability dictated for women.
Whether or not Lucy Brewer actually served in the United States Marines, the fact that she was able to experience male freedom and follow her own ambitions is phenomenal. Brewer never displayed remorse for those years of her life when she dressed as a man. She only showed repentance for her life as a prostitute.
