[Ads-l] Battle of the Bulge Quote

[Dave Wilton]

>From yet another war, there is this from USMC Maj. Gen. Oliver Smith, quoted in Time, 18 Dec 1950:

"Retreat, hell! We're not retreating, we're just advancing in a different direction."

And there is this attributed to Marine Col. Chesty Puller also in 1950 during the retreat from the Chosin Reservoir (but for which I can't find an authoritative source):

"So they've got us surrounded--good! Now we can fire in any direction. Those bastards won't get away this time!"


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of James A. Landau
Sent: Monday, May 02, 2016 10:02 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Battle of the Bulge Quote

Here is the quote from Ferdinand Foch that I was thinking of, from the Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Foch

<quote>
During the advance at the marshes at St.-Gond [Foch] is said to have declared: "My centre is yielding. My right is retreating. Situation excellent. I am attacking."[10] These words were seen as a symbol both of Foch's leadership and of French determination to resist the invader at any cost, although there is little evidence that the signal was sent.[11] <end quote>

Footnote [10] reads: ^ Raymond Recouly, Foch: Le Vainqueur de la Guerre [Foch: The victor of the war] (Paris, France: Hachette, 1919), page 121 : "Mon centre céde, ma droite recule, situation excellente, j'attaque." (My centre is giving way, my right is retreating, situation excellent, I am attacking.)


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