AN INDIANA BOY’S EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE OF THE IRONCLADS Growing up in Peru, Ind., William Charles Henry Reeder ice-skated on the Wabash River. In warmer seasons, he saw flatboats and smaller vessels floating by the town. It is difficult to imagine his surprise when he had a front row seat to the first great battle of ironclad warships—the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia—at Hampton Roads, Va., in March 1862. Reeder was on the beach with his regiment, the 20th Indiana Infantry. Here's