Since troops were rarely paid and supplies scarce, their provision was an important factor, and control of the sea gave the Commonwealth a decisive advantage. Although religion generally took precedence, motives and loyalties were complex, and many of the parties fought one another at different times, in a war marked by atrocities on both sides. 2,000 to 3,000 Protestants died in the pursuit that followed Ó Néill's victory at Benburb in June 1646, with a similar number of Catholic casualties after Inchiquin's victory at Knocknanuss in December 1647.