30 wounded. For six days heavy rain held up the fighting, until the weather cleared on 2 October. The weather was important because the matchlock muskets of the day would not work in wet conditions. On 2 October, Sir Samuel Bagnall led his regiment of infantry into the Pass at the head of four other regiments. The English breached the first barricade, and Thomas Bourke's regiment led the way to the second and third lines of defence. The English took the second line only to find themselves in a trap, with gunfire concentrated from three sides. They tried to dislodge the Irish from their remaining positions for three more hours before retreating, with the Irish in close pursuit. The English admitted 46 killed and 120 wounded, but it is thought that they understated their losses throughout the campaign. On 5 October Mountjoy sent two regiments on a flanking march over the hill to the west, with one further regiment supported by horsemen advancing up the centre of the Pass. No significant gains were made and the regiments turned back, reporting casualties of 50 dead and 200 wounded. By 9 October the privy councillor Geoffrey Fenton complained, "we are now but where we were in the beginning". Mountjoy retired to Dundalk - on either 8 or 9 October - but on the 14th word reached the English camp that O'Neill had abandoned the Pass and retreated to a crannog stronghold at Lough Lurcan. The most likely explanation for O'Neill's withdrawal from his position of strength is that he was short of ammunition and food and feared a flanking attack on his rear from Newry. Mountjoy occupied the Moyry Pass on 17 October and dismantled O'Neill's earthworks. He marched on to Carrickban, just outside Newry, and by Sunday 2 November set up camp at Mountnorris (halfway between Newry and Armagh). There he built an earthwork fort and left a garrison of 400 men under the command of Captain Edward Blaney. He then marched back to Dundalk via Carlingford, but was attacked on 13 November by O'Neill, close to the Fathom Pass. Mountjoys men forced their way through and the Lord Deputy claimed the army lost 15–20 killed and 60–80 wounded, but a later report suggested the losses were much heavier, with 80 killed Aftermath The battle of Moyry Pass was a stalemate: Mountjoy could not take the Pass, O'Neill could not keep