The Alicia was a case heard by the United States Supreme Court in 1868. The case involved a dispute between the owners of the ship Alicia and the owners of the cargo it was carrying. The cargo owners had sued the ship owners for damages caused by the ship's negligence. The Supreme Court held that the ship owners were liable for the damages caused by their negligence. The Court reasoned that the ship owners had a duty to exercise reasonable care in the navigation of the ship, and that they had breached that duty by failing to take proper precautions to avoid the damage. The Court also held that the ship owners were liable for the damages even if they had not been negligent, as long as the damage was foreseeable. This case established the principle that ship owners are liable for damages caused by their negligence, even if the damage was not foreseeable.

In The Alicia, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a ship that had been captured by Confederate forces during the Civil War and then recaptured by Union forces could be considered a prize of war. In an 8-1 decision, the court held that it could not. Justice Field dissented from this opinion, arguing that since there were no laws in place at the time of capture prohibiting such captures, they should be allowed as prizes of war under international law. He argued further that if Congress wanted to prohibit such captures it should have done so before or after hostilities began rather than trying to retroactively apply new rules after the fact. Field concluded his dissent with an admonishment for Congress: “It is too late now for legislation on this subject; but let us hope hereafter more care will be taken in providing remedies against wrongs which may arise out of civil wars."