November 26 in Military History — On This Day

Crossing of the Berezina

As Napoleon's shattered Grande Armée retreated westward through the bitter Russian winter, Russian forces converged from three directions to trap the French at the Berezina River, which had partially thawed making it impassable by foot. In a remarkable feat of improvisation, General Eblé's pontoon engineers worked for three days and nights in freezing water, constructing two bridges under fire. French rear-guard corps fought desperate actions on both banks to hold the crossing open while the remnants of the army staggered across. Thousands of stragglers, camp followers, and wounded who reached the bridges too late were killed or captured when the bridges were destroyed.

Though Napoleon escaped with the core of his army — perhaps 40,000 organized troops from an original force of 600,000 — the Berezina became synonymous with catastrophe and the ultimate failure of the Russian campaign. 'Berezina' entered French vocabulary as a synonym for disaster.

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⚔️📍 Washington D.C., USA1941

Hull Note — U.S. Ultimatum Pushes Japan Toward Pearl Harbor

Secretary of State Cordell Hull delivered a note demanding Japan withdraw from China and Indochina as the price for normalized U.S.-Japan relations. The Japanese task force was already at sea heading for Pearl Harbor when the note was delivered.

The Hull Note convinced the Japanese that diplomacy was finished and there was no turning back — though the attack fleet had already been dispatched, meaning war was already decided.

Outcome

Japan proceeds with Pearl Harbor attack; WWII in Pacific begins