Although members of the 69th Regiment of Foot did in fact serve as marines onboard HMS Agamemnon in the Mediterranean, the premise that there were riflemen in the regiment is fiction. The Experimental Rifle Corps, which used the more practical Baker rifle, was not formed until 1800.
Whilst unusual, it is possible to find documented evidence of women, disguised as men, serving in the armies and navies of the time. Although it was officially forbidden, it is likely that other soldiers or sailors knew the true gender of these individuals; if they were good at what they did and didn’t create problems within the ranks, it may have been disregarded. Men with no sea experience at all were sometimes pressed when shortages of seamen became extreme, so a person with skill, even if he was of suspicious masculinity, may have been invaluable.
Although much of this story is based upon historical events, my interpretation of those events is my own invention. Many of the officers and others referred to in this work were actual people, and I hope that I have treated them fairly. Captain of Marines Raleigh Spencer, however, is entirely fictitious.
As is Captain Nelson’s amanuensis.