CivilWar@Smithsonian is produced by the National Portrait Gallery and is dedicated to examining the Civil War through the Smithsonian Institution's extensive and manifold collections. Since the war itself, 1861-1865, the institution has been actively collecting, preserving, and remembering America's most profound national experience. Now through the World Wide Web, this site will significantly expand that mission, giving the public increased access to Smithsonian collections and archives. [self-description]