"Although the states were capable of delivering raw manpower to the military when required to do so, there was no substitute for well-trained officers. In addition to policing Indians, the peacetime army also served as a vehicle for creating a cadre of professional military leaders capable of fighting wars. The US Military Academy at West Point, New York, was established in 1802. Although the academy has had its detractors, including none other than frontiersman and Tennessee congressman Davy Crockett (who unsuccessfully introduced as "Resolution to Abolish the Military Academy at West Point" on February 25, 1830) and more recent luminaries, 523 USMA graduates served in the US-Mexican War, of whom 452 were promoted or decorated for gallantry. The majority of notable Civil War officers, Union and Confederate, were West Point graduates, with 294 serving as Union generals and 151 as Confederate generals."