The best source on the Chesapeake campaigin of 1814 and a serious one (also American in origin) is Michael Crawford, ed., THE NAVAL WAR OF 1812: A DOCUMENTARY HISTORY, vol. 3, 1814-1815. It is available online. This series of three volumes, with a fourth planned, contains collected archival and some manuscript sources, both American and British, and is the most serious academic research project on the War of 1812* in progress to date. You gentlemen (and ladies, I hasten to add) interested in this operation should consult the original documents.

There was, of course, no Geneva or Hague Conventions in 1814, but there were "laws," customs," or "principles" for the conduct of war on the part of civilized nations. These were collected and codified by two Eurpean scholars: Emmerich de Vattel, THE LAW OF NATIONS (1758 and many subsequent editions) and George von Martens, COMPENDIUM OF THE LAW OF NATIONS (1802) . These two publications were very popular in both Britain and the United States, Vattel going through at least three American editions printed in the 1790s and 1800s.

Both authors, by the way, agree that the destruction of public buildings and the levying of a financial or other penalty against civilians to prevent destruction of their habitations are allowable in civilized war.

Cheers
DG

* In Canada, where this is being written, the War of 1812 is generally known as the Great Patriotic Crusade for the Preservation of the Motherland agains American Imperialist Aggression.