26 ноября 1812 года началось сражение на Березине

At the crack of dawn, Napoleon entered the village of Studyanka located on the bank of Berezina river and ordered to start crossing the river along the bridges launched by his generals. What about Russian field-marshals intending to defeat the French and take Napoleon prisoner? Their plans were ruined by famous Russian manners described by Krylov “It is a trouble when a shoemaker begins to bake pies!” In this case Admiral Chichagov placed in command of land army acted as the shoemaker. The old sea dog was deceived by Napoleon’s maneuvers and came to the place at the heat of river crossing operation. The bridges were set on fire, and up to 20,000 French soldiers and officers were killed. As for Napoleon who managed to escape, he stood watching his army running to safety and said: “There is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.”