Harrison Capers was born on February 22, 1899, in South Carolina; his parents were Henry and Silvia Capers. His enlistment record suggests his birth date was 1892, so he may have lied about his age in order to enlist; if 1899 was his actual birth date, he would have been no more than 15 years old when he enlisted in 1912. Capers was convicted in the first court-martial and was sentenced to life imprisonment, and like most of the men in that trial, he did not testify on his own behalf. In a prison report dated July 15, 1919, it was indicated that he had three prior SCM convictions on his military record for minor infractions. At the time of the Houston Incident he had 5 years and 4 months of military service. His conduct in confinement was reported as “good,” but the record also noted that his physical health was poor because of tuberculosis. He died in prison on August 12, 1919, of tuberculosis, one year and nine months after the court-martial.