Zapata was patrolling around his stronghold in the hills of Cuernavaca, where he was ambushed by a government force of Rurales under the command of the American Soldier of Fortune, Emil Lewis Holmdahl.

The plan declared Madero a traitor, named as head of the revolution Pascual Orozco, the victorious general who captured Ciudad Juárez in 1911 forcing the resignation of Díaz.

[2] Zapata had supported the ouster of Díaz and had the expectation that Madero would fulfill the promises made in the Plan of San Luis Potosí to return village lands.

All those democratic principles, all those great words that gave such joy to our fathers and grandfathers have lost their magic for the people... With or without elections, with or without an effective law, with the Porfirian dictatorship or with Madero's democracy with a controlled or free press, its fate remains the same.

It also stated that large plantations owned by a single person or family should have one-third of their land nationalized, which would then be required to be given to poor farmers.

Another part of the plan stated that rural cooperatives and other measurements should be put in place to prevent the land from being seized or stolen in the future.

If this political location could be overthrown, the army would have enough power to "veto anyone else's control of the state, negotiate for Cuernavaca or attack it directly, and maintain independent access to Mexico City as well as escape routes to the southern hills.

It also stated that large plantations owned by a single person or family should have one-third of their land nationalized, which would then be required to be given to poor farmers.

Another part of the plan stated that rural cooperatives and other measurements should be put in place to prevent the land from being seized or stolen in the future.

If this political location could be overthrown, the army would have enough power to "veto anyone else's control of the state, negotiate for Cuernavaca or attack it directly, and maintain independent access to Mexico City as well as escape routes to the southern hills.

[6] Shortly after Torres Burgos's death, a party of rebels elected Zapata as "Supreme Chief of the Revolutionary Movement of the South".

[8] This decision to make Zapata the leader of the revolution in Morelos did not occur all at once, nor did it ever reach a true definitive level of recognition.

After a period Zapata became the leader of his "strategic zone", which gave him power and control over the actions of many more individual rebel groups and thus greatly increased his margin of success.

Upon his discharge from the Army, Holmdahl became a soldier of fortune and mercenary fighting under the likes of "General" Lee Christmas and others in Central and South America.

One morning, Holmdahl and his troop were patrolling near a Zapata stronghold in the hills of Cuernavaca, when they surprised a small detachment of soldiers.

During the running gun battle, Holmdahl's men accurately firing their 6-shooters began to empty saddles as the Zapatistas dropped dead on the ground.

After their bugler blew recall, the exhilarated Rurales and their exhausted horses regrouped and their group retraced the route of their pursuit along the trail.