Lord Nelson's hand-drawn battle plans for Battle of Trafalgar discovered in 200-year-old scrapbook

A sketch hand-drawn by Admiral Lord Nelson showing his plan for victory at Trafalgar has been discovered tucked inside the pages of a scrapbook after nearly 200 years.

The map was found by Martyn Downer, a historian who is an expert on Nelson, in a book dating from the 1830s which was recently sold at auction.

It shows his plan for splitting the Royal Navy fleet into three divisions to break and destroy the enemy French and Spanish lines coming out of Cadiz harbour.

Lines representing wind direction also appear on the attack plan, showing Nelson’s intention to attack across the wind to take advantage of increased speed.

The drawing, which has been donated to the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth, was found alongside an address leaf bearing Nelson's signature and is dated September 5 1805.

Mr Downer said: "This fragment of pencil sketch is simultaneously a very intimate and vivid artefact, giving us an exceptional insight into Nelson's thinking and planning ahead of the battle.

"Its survival is quite remarkable, having been hidden away between the pages of a young lady's scrap book for the best part of 200 years."

Professor Dominic Tweddle, the museum's director general, said: "This is an astounding discovery, it shows that Nelson had thought deeply about how he would defeat the combined French and Spanish fleets long before he ever set foot on HMS Victory.

"We are immensely excited to add this find to our rich collections."

The plan will initially go on display for one day only on Monday to mark the 214th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar before being placed on permanent exhibition from next spring in the museum's refurbished Victory Gallery.

It comes just a year after Nelson’s marriage record, another hugely valuable historical document, was found rotting in a bookshelf on the Carribbean island of Nevis.

The 190-page document, which marks the naval hero's 1787 marriage to Fanny Nisbet, was discovered in the possession of Canon Dr Alson Percival, who was reluctant to allow it to be taken away for conservation.

It took British experts a year to persuade the relevant Caribbean authorities that the record, which had badly deteriorated, needed urgent and vital work.

Dusty logs discovered in the attic of a house in Leicestershire in 2015 provided similar insight into Nelson’s famous victory at Trafalgar. 

A log by William Hargood, captain of the HMS Belleisle, gave his own account of the battle which he described as taking place amid “strong gales” and heavy fire.

It was put up for auction after being verified by the National Manuscripts department at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.

Nelson was killed on October 21 1805, during his victorious battle against the French and Spanish navies off the southwest coast of Spain.