 Zapata began the attack on Cuautla on May 13 with 4000 troops against 400 elite soldiers of the so @-@ called " Golden Fifth " ; the Fifth Cavalry Regiment of the Federal Army . The battle took almost a week and has been described as " six of the most terrible days of battle in the whole Revolution " . It consisted of house to house fighting , hand @-@ to @-@ hand combat , and no quarter given by either side . General <unk> Huerta arrived in nearby <unk> with 600 reinforcements , but decided not to come to the relief of Cuautla as he was afraid that the capital would revolt in his absence . On May 19 , the remains of the " Golden Fifth " pulled out of the town which was then occupied by Zapata 's soldiers . 
