He was born on 4th April 1848, son of don Agustín Prat Barril and doña María del Rosario de Chacón Barrios. From an early age he showed academic promise and a sense of responsibility, both of which were recorded in documents written at that time, not to mention his sharp discipline and loyalty to any kind of test and his deep-seated sense of duty to his country.
During his first days in the Escuela Superior de Instrucción Primaria in Santiago, at the age of eight, he became friends with Carlos Condell and Luis Uribe and all three then studied together at the Valparaíso Naval School. They graduated as Marine Officials at the end of 1864, and in November 1865 captured la Covadonga, at the naval combat of Papudo during the War with Spain. As a result he was promoted to a Second Lieutenant in the Navy.
In 1871 he graduated from the Instituto Nacional with a Bachelor of Philosophy and Literature.
He studied Law at the University of Chile, which is when he married doña Carmela Carvajal Briones. He finally graduated in 1875 and one year later obtained his title as a lawyer as a result of his investigations entitled “Observaciones a la lei electoral vijente” (note the spelling of the era) meaning ¨Observations of Current Electoral Law¨.
During his time in the Naval School, he was an outstanding officer, Professor of Naval Law, Cosmography and Naval Construction, and also worked for free in the “Benjamin Franklin de Valparaíso” Night School.
In 1879, when the War of the Pacific had started, he took command of the corvette Esmeralda, with orders to attack the Peruvian port Callao. On 21st May 1879 Chilean and Peruvian forces finally met at the Naval Combat of Iquique. The Peruvian squadron’s advantage was obvious but Prat knew that he could not surrender and encouraged his men by shouting ¡Long live Chile! as he jumped onto the enemy ship and met his death.
Minutes before jumping on board the Huáscar, while standing on the Esmeralda, that evening, on 21st May 1879, as the War of the Pacific commenced, he proclaimed the words that awarded him a special place in Chilean history: “ Boys: The challenge is unbalanced, but have courage, be brave. We have never lowered our flag to the enemy and I trust that this is not the time to do so”.
Maps of Chile