It was first published in the US in Liberty in October 1926, and in the UK in The Strand Magazine in November 1926, and is one of 56 short stories in the canon of Sherlock Holmes.

In January 1903, at Baker Street, James M. Dodd comes to Holmes with a strange story regarding his friend, Godfrey Emsworth.

Emsworth was sent home after being treated for a bullet wound; hearing nothing from his friend for quite some time afterwards, Dodd began to suspect something was amiss.

Upon his arrival at Tuxbury Old Park, Holmes observes Ralph removing a pair of tarry-smelling leather gloves, indicating the presence of disinfectants.

Godfrey was sent to a regular hospital, and later back home to England; however, some weeks later, white blotches began to appear on his skin.

Fearing he had caught leprosy, and knowing that he would be forced into segregation in a leper colony if the British authorities found out, Godfrey and his parents decided that he should hide.

The well-dressed man staying with Godfrey is Dr. Kent, a sympathetic local general practitioner who agreed to keep the Emsworth's secret.

Holmes's investigation of the mystery is delayed because he is engaged in clearing up "the case which my friend Watson has described as that of the Abbey School, in which the Duke of Greyminster was so deeply involved".

[7] Michael Hardwick dramatised "The Blanched Soldier" for the BBC Light Programme in August 1959 as part of the 1952–1969 radio series starring Carleton Hobbs as Sherlock Holmes and Norman Shelley as Dr. Watson, with Frederick Treves as James M.

It featured Robert Glenister as James Dodd, Hannah Gordon as Jean Watson, and Derek Waring as Colonel Emsworth.