What were the first two ironclad ships to battle in the civil war?

The Monitor and the Merrimack

Explanation:

The Merrimack (aka the Virginia)  was the Confederate ironclad that threatened the Union's naval blockade.  The Merrimack (as it was originally named) had been a conventional steam frigate.  The South had salvaged the ship and renamed it the Virginia.  The upper hull was cut away and then covered in iron armor.  

The Monitor was the Union's ironclad ship built in response to the Confederate's ironclad.

The two fought each other at the Battle of Hampton Roads, (March 9, 1862), in the harbor at the mouth of the James River.  The outcome of battle between the two ironclads was not decisive for either side -- but did issue in a new era in naval warfare.

What the affect had to the people’s hearts and minds

The statistics for the eastern war are grim. more than three-million men died in the fighting, more than nine-million men were wounded, and every major country which participated lost its form of government.