"Cut and Run" phrase definition

In a David Frost interview Bush said "We're not going to cut and run."  

This made me wonder about the origin of the phrase "cut and run."  Since Bush lived in Texas, I assumed it had something to do with cutting cattle but it actually has a nautical origin.

From here:
Cut and Run
Be off as quickly as possible. A sea phrase, meaning cut your [mooring]cable and run before the wind.

To landlubbers (like myself), running before the wind means this:
When the wind is directly astern (behind) a vessel, the boat is running away from the wind. An experienced crew would have watched the jib collapse and whisker-poled it out on the opposite side for the vessel to goose-wing (sails either side). The early warning collapse of the jib would have been acknowledged and the helmsman would take extra care not to gybe the boat without warning, adjusting the helm to keep the wind at one ear from over his shoulder. Many a seaman has been swept overboard or knocked senseless by a swinging boom whilst a vessel is running before the wind and the helmsman loses concentration or the wind flukes.

Bush must have rememembered the phrase from his kennibentport