The line belongs to Maj. Gen. Oliver P. Smith, who pulled his 1st Marine Division out of the Chosin Reservoir in December 1950. TIME’s 18 December 1950 issue quoted him: “Retreat, hell! … We’re not retreating, we’re just advancing in a different direction.” Marine accounts give “attacking in another direction.” The popular “We are not retreating, we are advancing in another direction” is a reworded form, and Sarah Palin credited it to MacArthur in 2009.
“We are not retreating, we are advancing in another direction” Maj. Gen. Oliver P. Smith, USMC, Chosin Reservoir, as quoted in TIME, 18 December 1950 (often misattributed to Douglas MacArthur) · Verbatim: “Retreat, hell! We're not retreating, we're just advancing in a different direction.”
⚠ The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Douglas MacArthur. Use the credit shown above instead.
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Evoking the world of Oliver P. Smith — U.S. Marine Corps general. Theme: "We are not retreating, we are advancing in another direction". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
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Provenance
Where the words actually appear
Speaker
Maj. Gen. Oliver P. Smith, USMC
Setting
Chosin Reservoir campaign, Korea, December 1950
Printed in
“Retreat of the 20,000,” TIME
Issue date
18 December 1950
“Retreat, hell!” snapped Major General Oliver Prince Smith, commander of the 1st Marine Division … “We’re not retreating, we’re just advancing in a different direction.”
TIME, 18 Dec 1950
This is the press version. Accounts from the Marines give it as “attacking in another direction.” A 2019 Marine Corps Gazette article says that at Hagaru-ri, Smith told correspondents: “Gentlemen we are not retreating. We are merely attacking in another direction.” None of these versions names MacArthur.
December 1950: TIME’s report on the Chosin breakout quotes Smith as saying “We’re not retreating, we’re just advancing in a different direction” (TIME, 18 Dec 1950 ↗).
1955: TIME’s profile of Smith gives the line as “Retreat, hell! … We’re just attacking in a different direction” (TIME, “Warrior,” 12 Sept 1955 ↗).
Wikiquote records Smith’s version as “Retreat Hell! We’re just attacking in another direction,” said in December 1950 (Wikiquote: Oliver P. Smith ↗). Wikipedia calls the “advancing in a different direction” wording a common misquote (Wikipedia ↗).
July 2009: Sarah Palin ends her resignation speech with “In the words of General MacArthur said, ‘We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction’”. Critics pointed out it was Smith’s line (History News Network ↗).
The popular wording is a reworded form with no single source, so quotle.info claims no copyright status for it. The closest printed version appeared in TIME on 18 December 1950. That is a 1931-or-later publication, so it should not be treated as public domain.
Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.
Fact-check
Why MacArthur gets the credit
The “not retreating” quip comes from the Marines’ fighting withdrawal from the Chosin Reservoir in 1950. MacArthur was the overall commander in Korea at the time, which makes him an easy name to reach for. But none of the sources tie the words to him.
✕
The popular wordingDouglas MacArthur Wrong general
Sarah Palin closed her July 2009 resignation speech with “In the words of General MacArthur said, ‘We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.’” History News Network called it a misattributed misquotation and traced it to Marine Gen. Oliver P. Smith at Chosin (HNN, July 2009 ↗).
✕
2009 commentaryDouglas MacArthur (repeated by the press) Echoed
Some commentators went along with Palin’s attribution. The Spectator’s Alex Massie described her as quoting “General Douglas MacArthur’s absurd line” (The Spectator, 3 July 2009 ↗).
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The “advancing” verbOliver P. Smith, as worded by the press Press polish
TIME printed “advancing in a different direction” in 1950 (TIME ↗). Marine sources say “attacking,” and one account says Smith later remarked that he had not put it quite that colorfully (19FortyFive ↗).
✓The line is Maj. Gen. Oliver P. Smith’s, from the Chosin Reservoir in December 1950. The best-attested wording is “attacking in another direction” (Wikiquote ↗); the “advancing” form comes from the press (TIME, 1950 ↗; Wikipedia ↗).
Context
Why the line stuck
In late 1950, Chinese forces surrounded the 1st Marine Division at the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. Smith led a fighting breakout toward the coast. Because Chinese troops were blocking the way in every direction, he argued that the move was an attack, not a retreat. His answer to correspondents became one of the best-known lines of the Korean War. A 1952 film took its title, Retreat, Hell!, from it.
Dropping Smith’s name turned it into an all-purpose line for putting a good face on a setback. That is how it ended up credited to the war’s most famous general when Sarah Palin used it to explain leaving office.
“Gentlemen we are not retreating. We are merely attacking in another direction.”
Which wording is closest to Smith?
A 2019 article in the Marine Corps Gazette says Smith spoke at Hagaru-ri, telling correspondents: “Gentlemen we are not retreating. We are merely attacking in another direction” (Marine Corps Gazette, Nov 2019 ↗).
The punchier “Retreat, hell!” opening and the verb “advancing” both appear in TIME’s December 1950 report. Neither appears in that Marine account.
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Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
Oliver Prince Smith commanded the 1st Marine Division in the first year of the Korean War. That included the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, where his surrounded division fought its way out to the sea. He was a quiet, studious officer whose Marines called him “the Professor,” and he retired as a four-star general.
For writers & researchers
Cite this
Closest documented source
Oliver P. Smith, quoted in “Retreat of the 20,000,” TIME, December 18, 1950. The popular wording is a later rewording, and its credit to Douglas MacArthur is unsupported.
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘We are not retreating, we are advancing in another direction’?” Last verified 2 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/we-are-not-retreating-we-are-advancing-in-another-direction/