Other rank's percussion cap pouch, post-1855

This pouch is made of white buff leather and was used to carry copper percussion caps. The latter device allowed guns to be fired in any weather. Prior to their invention in the late 1830s, soldiers had relied on flintlock ignition systems that were prone to misfire in wet weather. This pouch is stamped with the War Department mark, 'WD', which dates it after 1855.