Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov Count Alexei Grigoryevich Orlov ( ) ( – ) was a Russia n soldier and statesman , who rose to prominence during the reign of Catherine the Great . Orlov served in the Imperial Russian Army , and through his connections with his brother , became one of the key conspirators in the plot to overthrow Tsar Peter III and replace him on the Russian throne with his wife , Catherine . The plot , carried out in 1762 , was successful , and Peter was imprisoned under Alexei Orlov ' s guard . He died shortly afterwards in mysterious circumstances , and it was popularly believed Orlov had either ordered , or personally carried out , his murder . Handsomely rewarded by Catherine after her accession , the Orlovs became powerful at court . Alexei was promoted and took part in the Russo - Turkish War of 1768 – 74 , commanding a naval expedition to the Mediterranean in 1770 , which destroyed the Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Chesma . For his success he was granted the honorific Chesmensky . The Russian victory sparked off the Orlov Revolt in the Greek territories of the Ottoman Empire soon afterwards . Orlov remained in the Mediterranean , and received the unusual commission of seducing and then capturing ' Princess Tarakanoff ' , a pretender to the Russian throne . Orlov was successful in doing so , and tricked her into boarding a Russian ship at Livorno , where she was arrested and transported to Russia . Alexei ' s brother , Grigory , Catherine ' s lover before and after the coup took place , fell from favour soon afterwards , and the Orlovs ' power at court diminished . Alexei became a renowned breeder of livestock at his estates , developing the horse breed known as the Orlov Trotter , and popularising the Orloff breed of chicken . He left Russia after the death of Catherine and the accession of her son , Tsar Paul I , but returned after Paul ' s death and lived in Russia until his death in 1808 . Family and early life . Alexei was born into the noble Orlov family in Lyubini in Tver Oblast on ( , the son of Grigory Ivanovich Orlov , governor of Novgorod , and brother of Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov . He entered the Preobrazhensky Regiment and by 1762 had reached the rank of sergeant . He distinguished himself in the Seven Years ' War and was wounded at the Battle of Zorndorf . He was described as a giant of a man , over two meters tall , and a celebrated duellist , with a scar across his cheek . The scar earned him the nickname ' scarface ' . Involvement in the 1762 coup . Together with his brother Grigory , Alexei Orlov became involved in the palace coup to overthrow Tsar Peter III and place his wife , Catherine , on the Russian throne . In the coup , carried out in July 1762 , Alexei went to meet Catherine at the Peterhof Palace , and finding her in bed , announced ' the time has come for you to reign , Madame . ' He then drove her to St Petersburg , where the guards regiments there proclaimed their loyalty to her . The Tsar was arrested and imprisoned at Ropsha , under the guard of Alexei Orlov . There Peter died in mysterious circumstances on . Orlov is popularly supposed to have murdered him , either on his own initiative or on Catherine ' s orders . One account has Orlov giving him poisoned wine to drink which caused . . . flames [ to course ] through his veins . This aroused suspicion in the overthrown emperor and he refused the next glass . But they used force , and he defended himself . In that horrible struggle , in order to stifle his cries , they threw him on the ground and grabbed his throat . But he defended himself with the strength that comes from final desperation , and they tried to avoid wounding him . They placed a rifle strap on the emperor ' s neck . Alexei Orlov kneeled with both legs on his chest and blocked his breathing . He passed away in their hands . Orlov apparently wrote a letter to Catherine after Peter ' s death , confessing that Peter had been killed in a drunken brawl with one of his jailers , Feodor Bariatynsky , and taking the blame . The authenticity of this letter has been questioned . It was announced that the Tsar had died from an attack of haemorrhoidal colic . Royal favourite . The Orlovs were rewarded after Catherine ' s accession , and Alexei was promoted to the rank of major - general , and given the title of count . He and his brother received 50 , 000 roubles and 800 serf s . Despite a lack of formal education and his ignorance of foreign languages , he maintained an interest in science , patronizing Mikhail Lomonosov and Denis Fonvizin , and corresponding with Jean Jacques Rousseau . He was one of the founders of the Free Economic Society and its first elected chairman . Rewarded with large estates , he took an interest in horse breeding , developing the Orlov Trotter , and popularising the breed of chicken now know as the Orloff . He became involved in military operations during the Russo - Turkish War of 1768 - 74 , organising the First Archipelago Expedition , and commanding of a squadron of the Imperial Russian Navy . He fought and won the Battle of Chesma against an Ottoman fleet on 5 July 1770 , with the help of British naval expertise , and received the right to add the honorific ' Chesmensky ' to his name . He was also awarded the Order of St . George First Class . His expedition sparked off the Orlov Revolt in Greece , which despite initial successes , lacked continued Russian support , and was eventually put down by the Ottomans . Orlov was sent as plenipotentiary to the talks at Focşani in 1772 , but his impatience caused the breaking off of negotiations , which led to dissatisfaction from the Empress . Catherine then commissioned Orlov to make contact with Yelizaveta Alekseyevna , a pretender to the throne claiming to be the daughter of Empress Elizabeth of Russia , and deliver her to Russia . Orlov did so by pretending to be a supporter of hers , and successfully seduced her . He then lured her aboard a Russian ship at Livorno in May 1775 , where she was arrested by Admiral Samuel Greig and taken to Russia , where she was imprisoned and later died . Shortly after this service , the Orlovs fell from favour at court , and Alexei and Grigory were dismissed from their positions . Orlov retired to the Neskuchni Palace near Moscow , and gave luxurious balls and dinners , making himself ' the most popular man in Moscow . ' After Catherine ' s death in 1796 the new ruler , Tsar Paul I ordered that his father , Peter III , be reburied in a grand ceremony . Alexei Orlov was ordered to carry the Imperial Crown in front of the coffin . Orlov left Russia during the reign of Paul I , but returned to Moscow after his death and the accession of Tsar Alexander I . Orlov commanded the militia of the fifth district during the War of the Fourth Coalition in 1806 - 7 , which was placed on a war footing almost entirely at his own expense . He died in Moscow on . He left an estate worth five million roubles and 30 , 000 serfs . Family and issue . Orlov married Eudokia Nikolaevna Lopukhina on 6 May 1782 . The marriage produced a daughter , Anna ( 1785 – 1848 ) , and a son , Ivan ( 1786 – 1787 ) . Eudokia died while giving birth to Ivan , in 1786 . Orlov is also believed to have had an illegitimate son , named Alexander ( 1763 – 1820 ) .