Roy Palmer - in The Rambling Soldier - writes;

It is possible that The Female Drummer is partly based on incidents in the life of Mary Anne Talbot, whose autobiography appeared in 1809 under the title of Life and surprising adventures of Mary Anne Talbot in the name of John Taylor, related by herself.

Her book, if it be hers, may be partly or wholly fictional. In its defence, one can say that there do appear to be reasonable well-authenticated instances of women serving in the army and navy in men's attire.

[He then gives some examples, including Hannah Snell of Worcester.]

She would have had no shortage of ballads to fit her theme, starting with a group dating from the seventeenth century: The Gallant She-Soldier, The Famous Woman Drummer, The Soldiers Delight, Or the She Volunteer, and The Maiden Warrior (Roxburghe Ballads).

The last female warrior - that is, masquerading as a man - I have come across is Dorothy Lawrence, who served with the Royal Engineers during the First World War until she was exposed.