It seems I was mistaken.
Personally, I protest against the execution of the sentence, beyond that I am not called upon to go.

An act of injustice or cruelty, performed by a general upon prisoners, would not justify a soldier in imperilling the success of the campaign by resisting the orders of his superior; therefore, my duty to the king renders me unable to act; but I solemnly protest, in my own name and that of the English officers under your command, against the sentence, which I consider unjust in the extreme." So saying, General Hamilton, with the English officers, left the general's tent.

If they hoped that the protest would have the effect of preventing the barbarous sentence from being carried into execution, they were mistaken.

The fact that, to carry out his first intention would have been absolutely unlawful, had caused Ginckle to abandon it, but this made him only the more obstinate in carrying the second into execution.
The English officers stood talking, not far from his tent, in tones of indignation and disgust at the brutal sentence, and then walked towards their divisional camp.

As they went, they saw a number of men standing round a tree.