From which song do these lines come?-Thunderhead

Subject: Origins: From which song do these lines come?
From: GUEST,Paul Hazell
Date: 22 Aug 22 - 02:28 PM

Can anyone here help please?

A friend has quoted me the following lines and is very keen to ascertain from which song they are taken:

"You Yankees and you Rebels shake hands and then forget,
You'll never build a nation in all this bloody mess,
Go home and read your bible and the Gettysburg address".

Grateful for any help - thanks

Subject: ADD: The Giant of the Thunderhead (Driftwood)
From: cnd
Date: 22 Aug 22 - 07:24 PM

That is "The Giant and the Thunderhead" by Jimmy Driftwood. Here's my transcription. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzOlh-MAQPo

THE GIANT OF THE THUNDERHEAD
(Jimmie Driftwood)

A bunch of Rebel soldiers were sittin' 'round one night
A-talkin' to some Yankees in a spot way out of sight
They'd stepped across the picket line to have a little chat
A chawin' their tobaccer and swappin' this and that

And while they were a-talkin' they looked a-way up high
And there they saw a man a-walkin' across the moonless sky
He sat down on a pillow upon a thunderhead
He looked down on the soldiers and this is what He said:

CHORUS
You Yankees and you Rebels, shake hands and then caress
Go home and read your Bible and the Gettysburg Address

The boys ran to their bed rolls afraid to talk out loud
About the mighty giant they'd saw upon the cloud
Next day two famous general met near an apple tree
And one of them was U.S. Grant and one was Robert Lee

And when they'd finished talking and everybody knew
The awful war was over, they shouted Hallelu'
And all the people wondered about the thunderhead
Did U.S. Grant and Robert Lee hear what the giant said?

CHORUS

You'll never build a nation in all this bloody mess
Go home and read your Bible and the Gettysburg Address
You've got the grandest country this world has ever known
Your Constitution is the brightest star that's ever shone

CHORUS

Go home and read your Bible and the Gettysburg Address

Subject: RE: Origins: From which song do these lines come?
From: cnd
Date: 23 Aug 22 - 08:09 AM

Oops, just realized I put "thunderbird" in one place -- it should all be thunderhead.

Subject: RE: Origins: From which song do these lines come?
From: cnd
Date: 23 Aug 22 - 08:26 AM

As it turns out, I was careless in a few places. First, the recording I based my transcription on is this one, not the one I linked above.

Pretty obvious/minor mistake, but in the first stanza, it should be "A chawin' their tobaccer and swappin' this and that"

Subject: RE: Origins: From which song do these lines come?
From: Lighter
Date: 23 Aug 22 - 10:26 AM

"Caress"?!

Ewwww!

Even with the imperfect rhyme, "forget" is much better.

Subject: RE: From which song do these lines come?-Thunderhead
From: cnd
Date: 23 Aug 22 - 02:00 PM

Yeah, I have to assume they really liked the Gettysburg Address line and just forced something to make it work. Perhaps it could be "Go home and fix this mess"?

Subject: RE: From which song do these lines come?-Thunderhead
From: Mrrzy
Date: 27 Aug 22 - 04:04 PM

I kinda liked caress...