The book I read to research this post was Nelson's Spy which is a very good book which I bought from a car boot sale. This book is a history of Alexander Scott who may have been a spy at the time of the Battle Of Trafalgar and was a close friend of Lord Nelson. He may have been a key person in the outcome of the battle and helped tend to Nelson when he was mortally wounded. It was a battle between the British & French navies and it was the British who won. Alexander was a minister which enabled him to evade suspicion as a spy and also hear things because many people dropped their guard with a member of the clergy. He got the chance to do lots of travelling and lived to a ripe old age. His daughter wrote this book of recollections about him in 1842 and it has recently had an introduction added and been republished. Alexander came from a wealthy family but decided to go into the clergy because he lacked money. Many clergy men were able to save a nice nest egg and certainly Nelson rewarded him for any information. At one stage fresh from having a post in the navy he was offered a job as a chaplain on a smallish ship but felt it was a step backwards. Nelson told him if he got in an influential position he would make sure he was offered a better job. Spies were very important and could make the difference between winning or losing a battle. Even if their ships were outnumbered they could try and force a ship to put into port to try and even the odds or force a ship to go on the open sea where they could engage it in battle.