This change in procedure violated moral rules that were assumed in war. The Nephites would have assumed that one of the consequences of war was the capture and sacrifice of men. The change to include women and children so violated their understanding that their anger increased their strength. It is also quite probable that the Lamanite/Gadianton army had been counting on defections in the land just as they had had in the more southern areas. This defection may have reversed upon this action, as the Nephite defectors would have had similar cultural abhorrence of the sacrifice of women and children (an abhorrence that was not shared in the greater Mesoamerican community. Certainly such sacrifices were known for the later Aztecs). This loss of support and the increased fury of the Nephites is successful in driving the Lamanite/Gadianton army back, “out” of Nephite lands.
It might be tempting to assume that driving the Lamanite/Gadiantons out of the Nephite lands meant that Bountiful and Zarahemla were recaptured. There is no textual evidence for this. Indeed, when the Lamanite/Gadiantons come again, their first named target is Desolation. It would appear that the Nephites had conceded the loss of lands south of the narrow pass. The “Nephite lands” of their final battle were not even part of the traditional Nephite lands that centered on Zarahemla. That territory had been irretrievably lost.