English: Map of battlefield core and study areas.

The 1993 Study Area and Core Area did not accurately reflect the full extent of the battlefield landscape. The ABPP redrew the Study Area to include: 1) the Confederate approach from the east, 2) Confederate movements along the Big Blue River (these movements caused Union forces to eventually withdraw from the Byram's Ford area), 3) fighting to the immediate east and west of Byram's Ford, 4) the Confederate flanking movement from the north, and 5) the fighting retreat of Union forces west toward the Missouri-Kansas state line.

The Core Area includes the locations of frontal assaults on Byram's Ford, the left flank attack by Confederate forces on the Union lines, and the organized fighting withdrawal from the Byram's Ford area to within a quarter mile of the Missouri-Kansas state line.