"cut and run"

"It began in the 1700s as nautical shorthand for a swift retreat, a commander's order to slash his ship's anchor chain and outrace overwhelming enemy fire. Over centuries, as sailing ships gave way to ironclads, the phrase drifted to the linguistic backwater."

Doesn't matter whose backyard you went into to start a fight ... fast retreat, or getting the hell out of the fight you started is a "cut and run"

biLL