A pitiful handful of the remnants of the great army approached the Russian border: of the 600,000 French and allies who came to Russia, about 70,000 remained, and less than half of them were combat-ready soldiers.

The losses of Napoleon’s army in the battle amounted to more than 20 thousand people. No less died in the crush at the bridge and in the icy water of the river. The survivors recalled with horror how they walked over the fallen people who were still alive, who grabbed their legs and screamed in pain and horror. Until now, the French language has a stable expression C’est la Berezina, meaning a grandiose fiasco.

The blame for Napoleon’s escape from captivity was laid (in many ways unfairly) on Admiral Pavel Vasilyevich Chichagov. The fabulist Krylov even wrote a fable about an arrogant pike that unsuccessfully tried to catch mice.

@nasha_stranaZ