SHARPSBURG, Md. (AP) — The National Park Service says it wants to expand the Antietam National Battlefield near Sharpsburg to include about 500 acres in neighboring West Virginia where Civil War soldiers fought the Battle of Shepherdstown.

The proposal is the subject of a public meeting Tuesday night in Sharpsburg. Any expansion of the approximately 3,200-acre Antietam battlefield would require congressional approval.

The agency says the Shepherdstown battlefield, about five miles from Antietam, isn’t significant enough to become a separate park but still deserves protection.

The battle was fought Sept. 19-20, 1862. It began two days after the Union victory at Antietam, when federal troops crossed the Potomac River to capture Southern artillery pieces.

The park service says the battle resulted in more than 675 casualties.

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