Marshall v. Vicksburg was a United States Supreme Court case that dealt with the issue of whether a city could be held liable for damages caused by a flood. The case arose when the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, built a levee along the Yazoo River, which caused a flood that damaged the property of the plaintiff, William Marshall. Marshall sued the city for damages, arguing that the city was liable for the flood because it had built the levee. The Supreme Court held that the city was not liable for the damages caused by the flood. The Court reasoned that the city had not acted negligently in building the levee, and that the flood was an act of God that could not have been prevented. The Court also noted that the city had not acted with the intent to cause the flood, and that the city had not been aware of the potential for flooding when it built the levee. In conclusion, the Supreme Court held that the city of Vicksburg was not liable for the damages caused by the flood. The Court reasoned that the city had not acted negligently in building the levee, and that the flood was an act of God that could not have been prevented.

In the case of Marshall v. Vicksburg, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a city could be held liable for damages caused by its negligence in failing to maintain a bridge over which plaintiff's goods were damaged while being transported across it. The majority opinion found that cities are not liable for such damages as they do not have any authority or control over private property and thus cannot be held responsible for any damage done thereto. Justice Field dissented from this decision, arguing that if a city has taken on responsibility of maintaining public works like bridges then it should also bear liability when those works cause harm to individuals or their property due to negligent maintenance. He argued further that since cities derive benefit from these public works, they should also assume some responsibility towards them and therefore should be made accountable when something goes wrong with them.