Gettysburg Foundation increases its goal of flags to be placed on the battlefield in Nov. to 17,760. For $18.63, you can help remember a soldier who was a casualty

Eternal Light Peace Memorial on the battlefield (Gettysburg Foundation)

Strong public interest has prompted the Gettysburg Foundation to increase its goal of 7,000 sponsored American flags to be placed on the battlefield next month to 17,760.

The foundation is asking the public to sponsor a U.S. flag for $18.63 through “A Field of Remembrance,” a campaign initially aimed at memorializing the 7,000 men killed at the battle.

The foundation, which supports the National Park Service at Gettysburg National Military Park, launched the effort in June.

“The new goal of 17,760 flags connects the sacrifice remembered at Gettysburg with the nation’s founding in 1776 and the ideals Abraham Lincoln invoked in the Gettysburg Address,” the group said in a news release Thursday. “In his opening words at Gettysburg, Lincoln looked back to the Declaration of Independence and a nation ‘conceived in liberty’ and dedicated to the proposition of equality.”

Proceeds will support the Gettysburg Foundation's preservation and education work.

The flag installation and the David Wills House’s reopening in November are part of Gettysburg’s PA250 Adams County commemoration. President Abraham Lincoln finalized his Gettysburg Address at the Wills residence.

Flags will be placed on Nov. 12, and the display continues through Nov. 23.

“One makes the human cost of the battle visible; the other returns visitors to the room where Lincoln shaped the words that have carried that cost forward ever since,” said the foundation.

About 51,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or captured in the battle.

Campaign participants may sponsor one or more flags, with tribute-naming available at all levels. Sponsorships are now open here.

After the remembrance, the flags will be kept for flag-placing ceremonies, such as Memorial Day, at Gettysburg National Cemetery.