War of 1812

Interesting facts of the War of 1812.

1. In the fall of 1812, the invincible Napoleonic army, exhausted by the cold and the partisans, retreated from Russia. The gallant "conquerors of Europe" turned into frozen and hungry ragamuffins. Now they did not demand, but humbly asked the Russian peasants for something to eat, referring to them as "сher ami" ("love friends"). The peasants, who are not strong in foreign languages, called the French beggars - "skiers". Not the least role in these metamorphoses was played, apparently, by the Russian words "fumble" and "mokat".
2. Not all Frenchmen made it to France. Many of those who were taken prisoner were hired by the Russian nobles. Of course, they were not suitable for the harvest, but as tutors, teachers and directors of serf theaters they came in handy. They examined the peasants sent to the casting and, if they did not see any talents in the applicant, waved their hand and said “Chantra pas” (“not suitable for singing”).
3. Since the peasants were not always able to provide "humanitarian aid" to the former occupants, they often included horse meat in their diet, including the dead. In French "horse" is cheval (hence, by the way, the well-known word "chevalier" - knight, rider). However, the Russians, who did not see any special chivalry in eating horses, christened the pitiful Frenchmen with the word "trash", in the sense of "rags". So this word came into our use.
4, A funny incident from the life of Denis Davydov, the organizer of the partisan movement in 1812 At the beginning of 1807, Davydov was appointed adjutant to General PI Bagration. At one time, Davydov in one of the poems joked Bagration's long nose and therefore was a little afraid of the first meeting with him. Bagration, seeing Denis, said to the officers present: "This is the one who made fun of my nose." To which Davydov, not at a loss, replied that he wrote about his nose only out of envy, since he himself practically does not. Bagration liked the joke. And he often, when it was reported to him that the enemy was “on the nose,” asked: “On whose nose? If on mine, then you can still dine, and if on Denisov, then on horses! ".
5. The valiant Russian soldiers, victoriously entering Paris in 1814, so to speak, with a return visit from the Napoleonic army (ingloriously left in its time occupied Moscow), did not behave too ceremoniously in the restaurants there, demanding vodka with a snack without fail and loudly: "Fast! Fast!" and without bothering with respect for the existing furniture and equipment. And there was an enterprising person who, in order to avoid the ruin of the restaurant property, thought of arranging a meeting for the Russian winners right at the entrance, and not just with a bow, but with a tray on which a “drink and a bite” was already prepared. The Russian army then returned home, and the word stuck and laid the foundation for a new direction in the restaurant business - bistro.