He was born on the 10th (the 23rd) of November, 1917, in the village of Borinskoe of the Stebaevsky parish of the Zadonsk uyezd, the Voronezh province (now the Lipetsk district, the Lipetsk region). He is Russian. In 1933 he graduated from the 7th grade school in his native village. In 1933 -1936 he worked as a contractor for the fleet of vehicles of the Borinsk machine and tractor station, and in February-may 1936 as an inspector of the political department of the Borinsky district department of public education. In 1936 – 1938 he worked as propagandist, head of the department of political science and Secretary of the Borinsky district committee of the Komsomol. In 1937 he graduated from the Voronezh department of the Institute of distance learning of the party asset. He was in the army since October 1938. In 1938 - 1941 he did active military service in the troops of the Chita garrison. In 1939 – 1940 he was an assistant for Komsomol work to the head of the political department of the special units of the Chita garrison, in March - August 1940 –he was an instructor for Komsomol work of the political department of the headquarters of the Transbaikalian military district. Then he served as executive secretary of the party bureau of a separate battalion of the air observation, warning, and communications (in the Transbaikalian military district). He was a participant of the Great Patriotic War: in January - May 1942 – the executive secretary of the party bureau of the 6th guard rifle regiment, in May - July 1942 – a senior propaganda instructor of the political department of the 6th guard rifle division. He fought on the Bryansk front. He participated in the battles on the Bolkhovsky and Maloarkhangelsky directions. In March 1942 near the city of Bolkhov (the Oryol region) he was wounded. In July 1942 - October 1943 – a military commissar and deputy commander of the 1033rd rifle regiment for political affairs. He fought on the Bryansk (October 1942 – March 1943), Central (March -October 1943) and Voronezh (October 1943) fronts. He participated in the Kharkiv operation, the battle of Kursk, Oryol and Chernihiv-Pripyat operations and in the battle of the Dnieper. In February and July 1943 he was wounded. He particularly distinguished himself during the Dnieper crossing: on the 25th and 26th of September, 1943, while crossing a river near the village of Okunevo (the Kozelets district, the Chernihiv region, Ukraine) he was constantly in combat formations of the battalions and companies of the regiment, summoning up warriors for the task. The soldiers of the forward battalion led by him broke into the enemy trench and in a brief battle captured the bridgehead, which immediately began to be crossed by the companies and battalions of the regiment. With a rapid attack they captured the second line of defense of the Nazis from which the attack on Korosten and then on Kiev unfolded. On the 10th of October, 1943, in the battles on the Teterev river he was seriously wounded (for the fourth time during the war) and was in the hospital until January 1944. For the courage and heroism shown in the battles with the Nazi invaders, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the 17th of October, 1943, lieutenant colonel Gorchakov Pyotr Andreevich was awarded the title the Hero of the Soviet Union with the order of Lenin and the “Gold Star” medal.